Rewind, Reshuffle, Redux
by Reshuffle
Summary: During the battle for everyone's souls, he discovered his Answer and made the ultimate sacrifice. Everything is over and done with, but Minato Arisato inexplicably awakens in the Velvet Room once again. In the past, in a different thread of the multiverse altogether and with everything at stake yet again, the Journey of the Fool is retold once more. A P3:FES and P3P fusion.
1. Chapter 1: Another Deck

**Chapter 1: Rewind the Clock**

A/N: Skip to the line break if uninterested. Yes, it's a new story. Everything else I've written is dead. Maybe this one might die too, but maybe not. I'm not going to think too much while writing stuff anymore and just go with the flow. If anyone wants to beta this story, be my guest.

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><p><em>Tick.<em>

A statue of a young man barred the massive golden gate.

_Tick._

The personification of darkness and despair reformed itself and lunged into the statue once more.

_Tick._

To no avail, as the seal refused to budge.

_Tick._

Nothing ever changes here. Nothing ever will.

_CRASH_

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><p>The first thing Minato Arisato awoke to was music. An aria from the past that he hadn't heard in a long time.<p>

"I see you have returned to us."

It was also a familiar voice, one he hadn't heard in ages. As he opened his eyes, he was met with the sight of a hunchbacked old man with a crooked smile and large nose.

"Igor." Minato greeted him. "Is it already the end of time?"

Igor chuckled in response. "Hardly."

"Then why am I here? Did the seal break?" Minato asked, a hint of panic entering his voice.

Igor was silent.

"Tell me!"

"…We are unsure of what has occurred." Igor replied solemnly. "When you chose to use the power of the Universe in such a fashion, it created a seal so powerful that it ensured no force could ever destroy it."

"Then I shouldn't be here." Minato interjected, albeit with relief.

"Indeed, however, allow me to finish." Igor continued with a hint of irritation in his voice. "I understand that you are concerned for your world. Your Journey has already reached its conclusion, and yet a strange phenomenon has occurred. It seems that the clock has been turned back."

Minato leaned back into the chair, contemplating Igor's words. "So you're saying we're back into the past. How far, exactly?"

"It has been rewound quite a bit."

"Before or after the seal?"

"Before." Igor answered. "However, something seems to have… changed. It has led me to believe that we are no longer in the same fabric of time."

"So we're in a different dimension or multiverse?"

"Indeed." The Proprietor of the Velvet Room paused. "It is strange. For a guest to return to us after his Journey has been completed is... unheard of.""

Minato thoughts were racing. "Was everything we went through pointless, then? Did we change nothing?"

"Ah, not quite." The smile returned on Igor's face. "Your sacrifice has safeguarded your world from Nyx for eternity. It was simply the most marvelous thing I have witnessed in all my years as the Proprietor of this Room."

Minato sighed in relief. "So what do we do now, Igor?"

"I admit, I am uncertain how to proceed."

Minato was surprised. Igor always seemed to know what needed to be done. "Do you have a counterpart for this… dimension or whatever it's called?"

"The Velvet Room exists beyond dimensions, young man." Igor chuckled. "Have you already forgotten what I have told you about this place?"

"It exists beyond dream and reality, mind and matter." Minato's face then took on an incredulous expression as he realized something. "Just how many guests have you had?"

"More than there are stars in every existence." Igor smiled his Cheshire smile. "And allow me to assure you, none have been as interesting as you are."

"So I assume I'm the first to actually enter an entirely different dimension?"

"You would be correct. You will find things very similar here. It appears that your soul has latched onto the closest possible thread of the universe, quite possibly due to its familiarity."

Minato read between the lines. "You're saying that I should take part in this reality."

"It is entirely your choice." Igor said. "The contract you have signed with us simply states that you will accept all responsibility for your actions."

"Me being in a different dimension wasn't exactly a consequence from my actions."

"Perhaps, but I am referring to your current choice. Whether or not you choose to enter this world will have significant effects."

Minato chose not to respond to that, and the two said nothing for a while. The aria continued to permeate the room.

The young man closed his eyes and let the music soothe him. Ever since his first visit, the pianist had been singing her heart out. Once, he had asked Igor about the music. Apparently, the pianist was once a guest who had made the decision to keep singing for eternity to soothe the souls of everyone in existence. The story had brought tears to his eyes, for nothing was at stake and she could stop whenever she wished. Yet, she chose to give comfort to those in pain. It gave him a further appreciation for her song; even more so now, as he had made a similar choice for humanity. That detail brought something to mind.

"…You said that this reality is similar to mine." Minato murmured. "Does that mean that Nyx will come to this reality as well?"

"That is correct." Igor answered. "I am, to be frank, unsure of the outcome. While you are in a similar dimension, you do not exist as you are here."

That brought Minato to raise his head sharply. "What are you saying? Is this reality doomed if I don't intervene, then?"

"Not quite. I believe that a new guest shall arrive soon. Ironically, she is your counterpart in this reality. Your… replacement, if you will."

"…She?"

Igor chuckled. "Yes, she. She too possesses the Wild Card, and will forge her own Destiny in the days ahead."

"Is she going to be another scapegoat for humanity, like I was?" A pained expression flickered across his face.

"Igor, how many times will Nyx come to destroy humanity? How many times will someone else be called to sacrifice their eternity?!"

Igor remained calm in the face of Minato's anger and waited for him to calm down.

"I apologize." Minato said. "It's just… I became the seal on the condition that my will never wavered until the end of time. I was aware of every second that passed. That damn clock never let me forget it." The young man sighed. "Believe me, I was sorely tempted to just… give in."

He paused and took a deep breath. "It was the hardest thing I've ever done, Igor. I… I don't know if I can do it again."

Igor was silent for a moment. "Perhaps you will not have to. Another may choose do so."

At this, he stared directly at Igor. "I would not wish it upon anyone else. Tell me, how many more realities will face Nyx?"

"It will depend on the outcome of this universe. Your reality, Minato-" Minato jerked his head in surprise. Igor had never used his name directly before."-is known as a primary universe. It is one of the two leading realities on Fate's path."

"And we are now in the other, I suppose." Minato assumed.

"Indeed. The passage of time of this reality is just behind your own. In other words, your reality will always be the first to experience the hand of Fate. And this reality the second. Should the coming of Nyx be halted here-"

"Then the rest of the multiverse will never have to deal with Nyx, because stopping the Fall would have been set in stone." Minato surmised, comprehension dawning on his face.

"Exactly! Truly, you are the most intriguing guest we have ever had." Igor said with glee. "In fact, I would theorize that your will to stop Nyx has transcended time and space simply to ensure the survival of all existence. If your final fusion was present, I would be willing to wager that the power of the Universe have evolved into the power of the Multiverse."

"That sounds really far-fetched, Igor." Minato mused skeptically. "As I said, I was constantly on the verge of giving in. My willpower isn't that strong."

"I would beg to differ," Igor countered. " But that is neither here nor there. Another explanation, perhaps was that the will of your friends attempting to help you somehow triggered this event. But however it occurred, it matters not at this point. You now have a chance to live your life free of such obligation."

Minato snorted in response. "Please. Something like this never happens without a reason. I doubt I'm as free to live my life as you say I am."

"…Perhaps." Igor conceded solemnly. "Nevertheless, as long as you abide by your contract, we of the Velvet room will continue to support you regardless of your choice."

Minato smiled a genuine smile, touched by the support that had never wavered in all his time as a guest. "I've never really thanked you for everything you've done for me, have I? For what it's worth, thank you, Igor. For everything."

"You are indeed most welcome." Igor smiled sincerely in return, a sight rarely seen.

"Speaking of 'we', where is Elizabeth?"

"She chose to leave the Velvet room after your sacrifice to search for a way to free you from your seal. I have sent her a message of what has occurred. She will no doubt be here waiting for you upon your return."

"I see. Please thank her for me as well." Minato paused, then frowned. "Never mind, I'll do it myself when I see her again."

"As you wish. However, the time has come to make a decision." Igor snapped his fingers, and a deck of Tarot cards began floating around in the air. The Aria began to increase intensity.

"I can weave your thread of existence into the fabric of this universe, Minato." There it was again. Why was Igor suddenly using his name? "What is your choice? Will you once again be involved in halting the Fall of humanity? Or will you allow Fate to run it's course? It is up to you to decide."

The young man who had become the Great Seal in a different reality knew that this was his last chance to turn away and live a normal life. A chance to have the family he never had, the children he could have raised. A chance to enjoy his life without the haunt of loneliness. A chance to truly live before he died.

And yet, it was a chance to live at the cost of letting another soul take his place. And that was where he drew the line.

"I never really had a choice, Igor." A ghost of a wistful expression lingered on his face.

He smiled wryly as he took a deep breath.

"I chooseth this fate of mine own free will. If I have to do it all over again, so be it."

The cards began to rapidly encircle the room at his words as an aura of power seemed to emit from both of them. Igor even seemed to glow for a moment.

"Very well!" Igor declared. "Let the wheel of time reverse!"

More cards began to join those in the air as an intense look of concentration appeared on Igor's face. Out from the corner of his eye, Minato caught a glimpse of the Tarot cards. From the World, it began to reverse in order, to Judgement, to the Sun. The familiar cards were burned into his mind as it continued down to Death, and so on until the final four where it began slow down. To the Emperor, the Priestess, the Magician and finally…

The Fool. He was intimately familiar with that Arcana.

"The Journey of the Fool shall begin once more."

And Minato vanished from the room, leaving Igor with a satisfied but tired smirk on his face.

"And so the story is retold."

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><p>AN: Yes, I'll be having a Hamuko and Minato duality. Hopefully it won't be too similar to anything else on the site, but even if the plot is, the writing style and execution will be different, so it doesn't matter. You can't sue me for it anyway. And I hope you enjoyed the false origins of the "Poem for Everyone's Souls'. Anyway, ciao. Review if you want to give feedback.


	2. Chapter 2: Double Lift

**Chapter 2: Double Lift**

A/N: A really quick update done within the span of a day, just because I'm really free at the moment. Yes, I realize that in Japan the surnames come first, but I've decided to do it according to the English localization just because I'm used to hearing their names in that particular order. To anyone it offends, live with it.

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><p>"<em><strong>Due to a malfunction in the switching system, today's rail schedule has been greatly altered. We apologize for any inconvenienced caused. The next stop is Iwatodai."<strong>_

A brunette girl sighed in dejection. She had boarded the train at five in the evening in hopes of reaching her destination before dinner to no avail. Thanks to the malfunction in whatever, she had been stuck in the train for the past six hours before it finally began to move once again.

Her stomach growled. While the maintenance conductor of the train had brought everyone a packet of food apologetically, it just wasn't enough to sate someone who had incidentally also missed lunch after a delay in bus schedules.

"_Today is not my day…"_ She thought dejectedly as she traced imaginary circles on her seat. _"I'm sooo hungry…"_

Her depressing thoughts were disrupted when the train slowed to a halt. The speakers began to buzz with an automated message.

"_**We have arrived at Iwatodai. Iwatodai. This is the final train bound for Tatsumi Port Island. Please ensure your belongings..."**_

She tuned out the irrelevant announcement and stepped out of the train in relief. Crossing the faregate by scanning her train card, she walked out of the station immediately looking for a convenience store to buy some food.

Spotting one, she began to walk in that direction. As she neared the shop, the clock struck twelve.

The shop light went out.

The girl stared incredulously. Was the world against her today or something? Was it National No-Food Day? She was hungry, damn it!

Looking around, she noticed that every light on the street was also out.

"_A blackout?"_

And then she noticed the green moon. Something was very wrong here.

As her eyes adjusted to the greenish darkness she swiveled back and forth, noticing bloodstains on the ground and a few tall objects scattered on the sidewalk. Upon closer inspection she noticed they were coffins.

"_Okay, Hamuko. Deep breaths. Just ignore everything and walk to the dorm. Everything will be alright. Just get to the dorm."_ She repeated the line over and over again as her mantra against freaking out. Surprisingly, it worked pretty well.

The brunette made her way up the slope, weaving in between a bunch of coffins at times and accidentally stepping into a puddle of blood once. She looked at her shoe in distaste, blood was incredibly difficult to wash off. As she caught herself thinking that, she wondered about her sanity, worrying about laundry in the extraordinarily creepy situation she was currently in.

Pushing that thought aside, she soldiered on towards the dorm and hoped she had memorized the address and directions correctly from before. Most of the details were saved on her phone and it, for some reason, like every electronic device she had seen so far, wasn't working.

_"I knew I shouldn't have thrown away that pamphlet."_

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><p>After wandering around for a while, she had thankfully spotted a sign that pointed her in the right direction. She was sure she had made a couple of wrong turns along the way, as the info she received stated that the dorm was only fifteen minutes walk away from the station. After all, she had been walking for easily forty minutes before finding the god-sent signpost.<p>

The brunette would wager that she had walked for another ten minutes before actually finding the dorm. After checking the name of the dormitory, Minatodai, she confirmed it to be the place she was seeking.

She found the door unlocked. As she hadn't encountered a single living soul since all the creepy stuff started happening, she decided to enter the dorm instead of waiting outside. The girl ventured into the dorm, with nothing but the pale green light of the moon to illuminate her path.

Peering in, she took in the rugged, yet modern style of the place. There were no coffins or blood to be seen, and she took that as a good sign. She continued to walk slowly, but surely into the darker areas where the moonlight didn't reach.

"You're late."

She jumped in fear and spun around, managing to keep down her shriek… until she saw the silhouette of a child sitting on the counter.

Hamuko would forever deny the small shriek that managed to escape.

"I've been waiting a long time for you."

The brunette froze in fear. "_Oh God, I'm going to die."_

"That sounds like you're going to kill me. Are you going to kill me?" She asked, panic entering her voice.

"What are you talking about? I've been waiting for you. Why would I kill you?" A puzzled voice came from behind her, and she spun about again, to see the same boy in an old prison outfit standing behind her.

"Stop doing that!" Hamuko snapped. "You're going to give me a heart attack!"

"I see. I'll try not to, then." The boy then snapped his fingers, and a strange red book appeared on the counter. "If you wish to continue on, please sign your name there."

Hamuko eyed it skeptically. "That isn't the Death Note, is it?"

The boy laughed, a surprisingly innocent laugh that put her at ease, if only a little bit. "Of course not, silly. It's a contract."

The brunette flinched. "Are you the Devil, then?"

"Who knows? But don't worry, all it says is that you'll accept full responsibility for your actions." He grinned. "You know, the usual stuff."

Hamuko appraised the contract. Sure enough, all it said was 'I, the undersigned, chooseth this fate of mine own free will'. Shrugging, she picked up the quill _(Who uses quills anyway?)_ and proceeded to sign her name on it. Upon completing the slightly messy signature _(Seriously, who uses quills?)_, the boy picked up the contract and perused it before nodding, closing it and bringing it to his chest.

"No one can escape time." He gave her a chilling gaze. "It delivers us all to the same end."

"What are you talking about?"

"You can't just live in your head and hope it all goes away." He closed his eyes. "And so it begins..."

Without warning he vanished, and Hamuko was left all alone.

"Who's there?!"

Hamuko jolted and spun around once again. _"Seriously, this has to stop."_

Beneath the shadows of the staircase she could barely make out the silhouette of a girl approximately her age. Hamuko immediately noticed two things. The girl was trembling, and two, _she had a freaking gun_.

"Y-You're-" The unknown girl trembled and reached for her gun. Hamuko was about to dive for cover when a voice rang out.

"Takeba, wait!"

As if planned, the lights turned back on, and the world seemed to return to normal. Hamuko was temporarily blinded by the lights as her eyes worked to readjust to the sudden brightness.

"The lights…" The voice of the first girl could be heard musing. "T-then you have to be-"

"I didn't think you'd arrive so late." The second voice interjected smoothly. As Hamuko's eyes began to adjust properly, the first thing she noticed about the girl was that she was _beautiful_, and she had red hair. _"Most girls would kill to look that good."_

"My name is Mitsuru Kirijo. I'm one of the students who live in this dorm."

"Who's she?" The girl presumably named Takeba asked. Now that Hamuko could actually see her in proper light, she realized that the other girl was a lot prettier when she wasn't trying to kill her.

"She's a transfer student." Mitsuru answered. "It was a last minute decision to assign her here. She'll eventually be moved to a room in the normal dorm."

The brunette, Takeba seemed to be rather unsure of that tidbit of information. "Is it okay for her to be here?"

Mitsuru gave a thin smile. "I guess we'll see." She turned to Hamuko. "This is Yukari Takeba. She'll be a junior this spring, just like you."

"Hi, I'm Yukari." The brunette introduced herself. Hamuko got the impression that she was suspicious of her, so she decided to give a more cheerful greeting.

"Heya, I'm Hamuko Arisato. It's nice to meet you!" She finished with a cheerful smile.

"Uh… yeah. Nice to meet you too." Yukari seemed thrown off by her enthusiasm, before she frowned in thought. "Arisato? Is she related to Arisato-senpai?"

"Nope, I've never seen her before in my life." A new voice entered the conversation, and Hamuko turned to the source. "And I've told you before, Takeba-san. I'm a repeater. I'll be in the same year as you, so I'm not your Senpai anymore."

A young man with blue hair came down the stairs, somehow rubbing his eyes while fixing Hamuko with a steely gaze at the same time. She began to fidget; it seemed like the other teen was looking for something in her eyes. He seemingly found what he was looking for and turned to Mitsuru with a satisfied smile on his face. "Anyway, the ruckus woke me up. Is she the one you mentioned earlier?"

"Yes. Although I find it a strange coincidence that you both have the same last name, Arisato." Hamuko jerked at her name being called, even if she knew Mitsuru was talking to the other boy. It would take a little bit of getting used to.

"Likewise." The young man turned to Hamuko and gave a welcoming smile. "I'm Minato Arisato. Pleasure to meet you."

"Yeah, you too." Hamuko replied, before turning to Yukari and asking the one question that had been on her mind since meeting them. "So… what's with the gun?"

The reaction she got was immediate. Yukari looked panicked, Mitsuru tensed up while the other Arisato seemed nonchalant.

"It's not a real gun." Mitsuru explained, while Yukari drew it to show her the lack of a barrel. "It's something we just started implementing in the dorm for self-defense in hopes of frightening off more unsavory ruffians."

Hamuko sighed in relief. "Yeah, I can see that. It totally works, by the way. Oh, and um… I think I left some bloodstains on the floor."

The two girls tensed up again, while Minato was trying hard not to snicker. Mitsuru was quick to respond once again. "I'm not sure what you mean, Arisato. The floor seems to be spotless."

Hamuko was confused until she saw that she didn't leave a trail of blood, even after stepping in that bloody puddle. In fact, her shoes seemed to be clean now. She shook her head. "Maybe I was imagining things."

At her reply the tension in the room eased up. Mitsuru glanced at a nearby clock. "It's getting late, so it's no surprise. You'll find your room on the 3rd floor. Your things should already be there."

"You should go and get some rest. I'm sure you've had a long day." Minato seemed to have recovered from his laughing fit and agreed. Hamuko nodded in response.

"I'll show you the way." Yukari said, before turning around and heading upstairs. "Follow me."

Hamuko did as told, and followed Yukari up the stairs. On the way up, she overheard a snippet of conversation from the two teenagers remaining below.

"So... can I get one of those guns?" Minato was saying.

"You'll have to wait. You just moved in as well, so we need to get one issued for you." The girl replied. "...And probably one for the other Arisato as well, even if she may be moving to a different dorm."

"Oh. Okay then, Kirijo-senpai."

"I'm not exactly your senpai…" Mitsuru chuckled ruefully. "You can address me like normal, Arisato."

"Do you not like being called Senpai?" He asked, a tinge of curiosity in his voice.

"It feels rather strange, considering you're older than I am."

"Only by a month. But very well, as you wish, Kirijo-san." There was a hint of a smile in his voice, and the conversation got too distant to hear as the two girls crossed the threshold onto the third floor. She continued tailing Yukari straight to the end of the corridor.

"Well, this is it…" the brunette said. "Pretty easy to remember, huh? Since it's right at the end of the hall and all. So, any questions?"

Hamuko had three things that she was really curious about. The first was about Minato Arisato, specifically his reason for repeating. But she could ask him that herself later. The second was contract she signed. She was sure she had signed her death warrant, somehow. The third was about the creepy little kid that she signed said contract for. The last one took priority, considering he vanished into thin air.

"Does that boy live here? Not Arisato-senpai, I mean." Hamuko amended quickly.

"Huh?"

"You know, the one that asked me to sign a contract?" She continued.

Yukari looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

"The kid in the black and white striped pajamas?" Hamuko pressed on with a small frown on her face.

The other brunette now looked a little unnerved. "W-what? C'mon, it's not funny to joke around like that."

The transfer student decided to backpedal a bit. The other girl truly didn't seem to know what she was talking about. "It's nothing, never mind."

"Ugh, I'm blaming you if I don't get any sleep tonight…" Yukari muttered. "Anyway, um… Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"On your way here from the station, was everything…okay?" she asked a little hesitantly.

"What do you mean? I mean, I took about an hour to get here 'cause I kinda got lost and my phone wasn't working…" Hamuko replied.

"That's not what I-!" Yukari seemed to change her mind, because she shook her head and went, "Never mind. It seems that you're fine, at least."

Hamuko was curious by what she meant by 'fine', but didn't push it.

"Well, I'd better get going." Yukari said and walked off to another room, which Hamuko assumed was hers.

She was about to open the door when Yukari addressed her.

"Um… I'm sure you still have other questions, but let's save them for later, okay?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"Okay." Hamuko replied easily, and opened the door to her room while yawning. "G'night, Yukari-san."

"Good night," came the reply, and the two girls entered their respective rooms.

The transfer student appraised the room she had been assigned to. It was surprisingly spacious, if a little bit empty, and had a charm of its own. She spied her travel bags standing in the corner. Exhausted from a long day of travel, Hamuko decided to leave the sorting of her luggage to tomorrow and decided to just unpack a few of the necessities she would need for the next day. A few minutes later, she crashed onto her bed, craving a good rest.

_Grroowwlll~_

Hamuko realized what the sound was and moaned into her pillow.

"_I'm still hungry…"_

* * *

><p>Minato Arisato was sitting on his bed in his old room. He gave a tired sigh. It had been a long day for him as well.<p>

He had awoken earlier in this world in a hospital bed with a killer headache. Swallowing a curse, he had pressed a nearby button to call a nurse, which caused a minor panic as two doctors and a nurse rushed into his room.

He rubbed his temples, trying to relief the pressure that lingered in his skull. According to the doctors, his awakening had been nothing short of 'miraculous'. Apparently, he had been in the Iwatodai Memorial Hospital for the past five months in a coma as a result from an accident. From what he managed to divulge from the doctors who attended him, 'he' had pushed a child to safety at the cost of getting hit by the car.

He smiled wryly. Igor appeared to have a warped sense of humour after all.

Worrying there were holes in the story, he had subtly dug for more information. Igor had seemingly managed to cover everything up seamlessly. The father of the child he rescued had been paying the excess of the hospital build that insurance couldn't cover. By checking his wallet, the doctors had managed to identify him as a student due to his age, but couldn't find any records of him in Gekkoukan High School. This lead them to believe that he was on a vacation to Tatsumi Port Island. His phone had been smashed, so he had no emergency contacts either, to which he replied he had been an orphan for the past few years anyway.

To be honest, Minato was rather impressed at Igor's thoroughness.

Taking a glance around the familiar room, he wondered idly if the Kirijo family had had him under surveillance while he was in a coma. Moments after he awoke, Mitsuru had arrived in his room. It made sense, assuming that he probably had the Potential even in a coma, and had retained his human form during the Dark Hour. After offering him a place in her dorm (omitting anything about the Dark Hour) and a place in Gekkoukan High, which he readily accepted, she had wandered off busily. He was glad to see her again, even if she had no memories of him this time around.

After a quick check-up, he was deemed miraculously healthy and was discharged from the hospital. The doctors were still confused that there were no signs of muscle atrophy or lingering effects aside from the migraine he had complained about and had told him to return if any complications arose. From there, he had moved to the dorm and met Yukari, another familiar face which brought another smile to his own. The girl who had been his Link for the Lovers Arcana seemed to be adamant in calling him Senpai. It was a strange feeling for him, considering she had never been so formal with him in his original timeline.

He sighed again as he sprawled onto the bed. For some strange reason, his identification card had stated his birthday to be a year earlier than in his original universe. He assumed that when Igor had weaved him into this universe, he had used the age before he died as a reference and it seemed to manifest in actual physical was thankful, though, that as he was placed in a 'coma', he ended up being assigned as a Junior like before. He had no idea what he'd do if he had to face the pressure of Graduation Exams as well, and entering into college. Assuming, of course, that he survived this time around.

If he was being honest with himself, he had no idea what to do at this point. He had met his counterpart, and she seemed to be somewhat different than he was on arrival, similar surname non-withstanding. She was a Wild Card, alright, but her behaviour was rather different than his. Before he had made any real friends, he was, he would admit, rather boring, somewhat apathetic and downright lazy. Pharos himself had told him; "You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes."

At that point, he really hadn't cared for anything at all.

Hamuko though, seemed to be different. From what he could observe from her, she seemed to be much happier than he had been and remarkably more adjusted as well, considering their shared past. He had gleaned from her something that he realized he never had until the very end of his bodily existence; she was full of life. Even as tired as she seemed to be earlier, he could sense her optimism and exuberance within.

Someone like her did not deserve the fate of an eternity lost.

He smiled bitterly. He had no idea what to do at this point. The power of this Universe was not at his call, and the power of the other Universe had been consumed to become the Great Seal. If he decided to proceed down the timeline as normal, there was no guarantee that they would even be able to climb to the top; it had taken the original SEES everything they had to even climb to the roof of Tartarus. The battle against the Avatar was bad enough. When he thought of facing Nyx again, he was unsure how he managed to survive against the massive pressure she had emitted, let alone stand. Even with the power of the Universe in hand, Nyx had been an absolutely terrifying opponent in hindsight. If his friends hadn't given him the strength of their collective wills at the most crucial moment...

He shook his head. This was not the time to speculate about what could have been. He had to plan for this universe accordingly. With the foreknowledge from his timeline, he could change things. Shinjiro, Strega, the twelve Arcana Shadows... and Ikutsuki. Even now he had no clue on how to deal with the Chairman. He would not be believed if he told the truth, that was for sure. He wasn't even sure if he could stand being in the same room as the traitor without attempting to strangle him.

He gave another sigh.

As much as he loathed it, he had to try to keep things as they were, only intervening at crucial moments, if at all. A tiny change in the timeline could completely change the outcome. Shinji's death had caused the resolve in Ken and Akihiko to strengthen to the point their Personas evolved. It was the same with Mitsuru's father. Junpei had surprisingly became one of the aces they had on their team after Chidori's sacrifice.

If he were to interfere with these events, the results could be catastrophic. Best case scenario, the members of SEES would be weaker for it. Worst case scenario, they would not find the resolve to challenge Nyx and everything would perish.

Could he just let them die? Should he play God and sacrifice the lives of these people now that he had the opportunity to save them? If he didn't, wouldn't he be gambling the entire Multiverse away for the sake of a handful of people?

It was truly a moral dilemma at this point. The needs of the many versus the needs of the few.

"_What to do, what to do..."_

He tossed and turned on his bed.

"Damn it, Igor..."

* * *

><p>AN: A slightly longer chapter, but this will probably be the last short chapter. From now on everything will likely be quite a bit longer. Yes, there is a very different style while writing for Minato and Hamuko, because their personalities and thoughts are different. Writing something in their point of view would change the narrative slightly. If I were to narrate from the point of view of any other character, I would still take this into account.

My portrayal of Minato is quite standard; he started out stoic and apathetic in his original timeline, but opened up as he began to form social links. He has carried over his attributes ala New Game+, so he is more charismatic, intelligent and caring at this point. As such, his thoughts and narrative reflect his more logical and intelligent side. Hamuko, on the other hand, will have a different progression altogether. She is generally much more optimistic, witty and action-oriented, and her narrative will show it.

Also, in my opinion, Minato isn't witty at all. He's lazy and quite closed in the original story, mostly. In his narrative he rarely jokes, although when he does allow a rare joke to slip through it would be funny as hell. As this is effectively an NG+, he's much more open, still lazy as hell but he isn't going to magically turn into a funny guy. That's Junpei's role.

Well, laters.


	3. Chapter 3: False Shuffle

**Chapter 3: False Shuffle**

A/N: I seem to want to put out more stuff. This fic seems to be getting some response, at any rate. There is a direct correlation of that with the amount of effort I put in. In the end, no one reads this part, so it doesn't even matter. I know I skip 'em all the time, but for those who bother, heya. Onwards, I guess.

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>The sun had already risen when Hamuko rolled out of bed sleepily.<p>

"_I'm still tired..."_

Knowing she had to leave for school in an hour, she mentally gave herself a pack on the back for having the foresight to unpack her necessities the night before. As she groggily made her way to the shared bathroom at the end of the hall, she passed by Yukari, who gave her a quiet "Good morning" and left her to her own devices.

A teeth brushing and shower later, a much more awake Hamuko stepped out of the bathroom. Her hunger from last night had carried on to the morning, so she made her way downstairs to the dorm kitchen to see if there was anything she could eat.

As she reached the ground floor of the dorm, she noticed a gray haired boy leaving the dorm. Wondering who it was, she entered the kitchen to find Mitsuru sitting down at the table with a cup of coffee in her hands.

"Morning, Senpai." Hamuko greeted her.

"Good morning, Arisato. I trust you slept well?"

"Slept like a log." Hamuko looked around the kitchen. There seemed to be many cupboards and a fridge as well. "Am I allowed to eat anything here?"

Mitsuru nodded. "All meals at this dorm are covered by the Board of Directors. Feel free to eat anything in the kitchen."

"Thank you!" Hamuko chirped, and quickly proceeded to hunt for anything quick to eat. Finding a pack of cornflakes in the cupboard and a carton of milk in the fridge, she quickly fixed herself some breakfast and sat at the table with Mitsuru.

It was a rather awkward silence before Mitsuru decided to pitch a question. "Are you prepared for school this year?"

"What do you mean, Senpai?" Hamuko asked in between two spoonfuls of cereal.

"Have you started studying yet?" Mitsuru asked.

Hamuko decided to answer honestly. "Not at all, Senpai. The school term's just starting today, 'ya know?"

The redhead gave a chuckle. "I suppose most people wouldn't have at this point. Nevertheless, I'm expecting you to work hard."

"Okay, senpai." Hamuko said, and the two returned to a rather uncomfortable silence.

"..."

"..."

Hamuko had no idea how to initiate conversation with the older girl, which was a first for her. It seemed like there was some kind of barrier between them that she just couldn't break through. Her instinct told her she simply wasn't smart enough to hold any real conversation with Mitsuru at this point.

"I apologize." Mitsuru said with a sigh. "I'm afraid I'm don't have much talent when it comes to casual conversation."

Hamuko was surprised that Mitsuru would readily admit that. "It's not just you, Senpai. I honestly have no idea what to talk about either."

"Do you have any interests?" Mitsuru asked. "Economics or politics, perhaps?"

"Um, not really." Hamuko stated. The only thing she knew about politics was the name of the new Prime Minister of Japan, and she didn't understand anything in the business section of the newspaper. It seemed like any conversation with Mitsuru was doomed to fail at the moment. And if she were being honest, Mitsuru rather intimidated her a little as well. "I do like tennis, though."

"I see." The redhead seemed a little disappointed, before standing up and moving to the sink to wash her cup. "I assume you'll be joining the Tennis Club when the applications open, then?"

Hamuko nodded. "Most likely."

"It's good to be involved in club activities." Mitsuru finished drying the cup with a cloth. "But don't forget about your studies."

Hamuko nodded again in response. Mitsuru seemed to care a great deal for academics.

"Well, I'll be going now. I've asked Takeba to show you the way to school. Don't be late for your first day."

Mitsuru left the dorm, leaving her alone to finish her cereal.

"She's a bit hard to talk to, isn't she?" Hamuko recognized the voice as the only male resident of the dorm she had met so far.

Sure enough, the blue-haired boy entered the kitchen with a yawn.

"A little, I guess." She replied. "She's just so..." Hamuko trailed off, looking for the correct word.

"Intimidating?" Minato guessed, to which Hamuko gave a shrug.

"I guess. I don't know how to describe it, exactly. She's like on a whole different plane of thought entirely." She shook her head. "Don't tell her I said that, though."

"It's fine, you're not the only one who feels that way. From what I can tell, Yukari-san feels the same way too."

"But you're okay with her?" Hamuko asked.

Minato shrugged. "She's not that bad. It's just in her nature to worry about everyone's future. As the dorm leader she feels she has the responsibility to make sure everyone stays above water."

"I can tell." Hamuko had finished her bowl and moved to wash up. "She reminded me to not neglect my studies twice in five minutes."

The boy grinned lazily. "You'd better not. If she gets on your back you're never going to hear the end of it."

Hamuko tilted her head curiously. "How'd you know? Didn't you just move in as well?"

Minato hid a small smile. _"Observant girl."_ "I heard Sanada-san talking about it. Apparently she forces him to study as well."

"Sanada-san?"

"Ah, you probably haven't met him yet. He's the other guy living in this dorm."

"Oh, does he have gray hair?" Hamuko asked, to which Minato nodded. "I saw him leaving the dorm when I came down."

"Well, I'm sure you'll meet him soon. Anyway, I'm heading off as well." The boy said. "I need to visit someone before school starts. I'll catch you later."

"Alright, bye."

And once again, Hamuko was left alone to her thoughts. She found it rather strange that she was more reserved than usual. Normally she could carry a conversation fairly easily with people, and more often than not she talked more than she should. She shook her head and attributed the change in her behaviour to the unfamiliar environment.

She cleared the table and went back to her room to get a little unpacking done before she left for school. Someone knocked on the door just as she was nearly done sorting out her casual clothes.

"Hey, it's Yukari. You're awake, right?"

"Yeah, it's unlocked. Go ahead." Hamuko replied as she folded the last of her sweaters and tucked it away. The door opened.

"Good morning again! Did you sleep okay?" Yukari asked.

To which Hamuko nodded. "Slept like a log!"

"That's good to hear. Anyway, Mitsuru-senpai told me to take you to school today. Are you ready yet?"

"Hold on..." Hamuko scrambled for her cell phone and spotted it on the table. She pocketed it. "Yeap! Let's go. Lead the way, Yukari-san!"

"Geez, you're a morning person, aren't you?" Yukari smiled. "And here I thought you'd be all sleepy and stuff."

"Nah, you caught me before my shower earlier." Hamuko laughed. "Before the water hits my skin I'm pretty much dead to the world."

"Yeah, I can understand that." The two proceeded to head downstairs, all the while chatting about morning their respective morning behaviours.

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>By the time they boarded the train, Hamuko had discovered that Yukari was a very easy person to talk to. She was much more easygoing and approachable than Mitsuru, and any reservations she had was washed away by the flowing conversation.<p>

"By the way," Yukari was saying. "I bet at your last school you didn't need to take the monorail to get there. Have you ever heard of Tatsumi Port Island? It's a man-made island, and they built our school right in the middle of it."

The brunette was gazing out the window with a small smile on her face. "This is my favourite part... when it feels like you're gliding over the sea."

Hamuko was mildly amused by Yukari's cheesy sentence and said so. "That's kinda corny."

"W-well I... Shut up! Forget I said anything!" Yukari grew a bright shade of red, while Hamuko giggled at her reaction. "A-anyway, our stop is Port Island Station at the end of the line. From there, we have to walk."

"Aww, so no more gliding?" Hamuko teased. Yukari was kinda cute when she was embarrassed.

"No."

The two girls were enjoying the conversation even as they got off the train and began the walk to Gekkoukan High. Quite a few students greeted Yukari along the way, and Hamuko realized that the brunette was quite popular in school.

When they reached the school gates, the two of them spotted a familiar blue-haired boy.

"Oh, hey." Minato greeted them with a lazy wave.

"Ah, hello, Arisato-senpai." Yukari greeted him, which caused an annoyed expression to cross his face.

"Okay, no more of this, Yukari-san. We're finally at school now, and we're officially the same grade." He started. "There's a chance of me being your classmate, and there's no way in hell I'm going to be called 'Senpai' by everyone else. So repeat after me. I will not refer to Minato Arisato as my senior."

Yukari laughed and played along. "Alright, Minato-san. I will not refer to Minato Arisato as my senior. After all, I can't go against the wishes of my respected Senpai."

Minato blew the hair out of his face. "It's a start."

Yukari smiled and turned to Hamuko. "Well, here we are. Welcome to Gekkoukan High."

"It's huge."

Minato managed to resist slipping in a "That's what she said."

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>The trio entered the school together, talking mostly about the school. At the lockers, Yukari caught a glimpse of someone and turned to her fellow brunette.<p>

"You're okay from here, right? I need to talk to my Club President about something."

Hamuko nodded. "Sure!"

"You should go see your homeroom teacher first. The faculty office is right there to the left." She pointed. "And that concludes the tour. Any questions?"

"Nope, I'll survive." Hamuko smiled. "Minato-senpai's in the same boat as me, after all."

"Not you too." The blue-haired boy groaned. The girl grinned.

"Don't worry, if you're in the same homeroom as I am, I'll stop. Otherwise, you're still older than we are, _Senpai_."

"Whatever." Minato ended the conversation and walked off to the bulletin board, leaving the two girls behind.

"Um... about last night." Yukari began, a little unsure of what to say. "Don't tell anyone about what you saw, okay?"

"Huh?" Hamuko was confused. Was she referring to the gun? Or was it the creepy green stuff?

"Exactly." Yukari seemed satisfied. "See ya later."

And now Hamuko was left alone. She took her surroundings. The school seemed very lively to her. There was a pair of students chatting over near the bulletin board that she couldn't help but overhear.

"Hey Kaz, why are you wearing your P.E uniform? School just started!" The female of the pair seemed a little frustrated. "You really oughtta change to some normal clothes for class!"

"Eh... I guess." The aforementioned Kaz seemed to be stalling, which caused the girl to get a bit angrier. "Okay, okay, fine! Quit glaring at me like that, Yuko. Where's the bulletin board with the homerooms and stuff?"

"It's right there, Kaz! You're in class F!"

"Oh."

Hamuko thought the two seemed close. The next thing the girl said only confirmed it.

"I'm in a different homeroom, so I can't keep an eye on you this year." She said with a sigh. "I worry about you sometimes..."

Hamuko thought the conversation was getting a little too personal to eavesdrop on, so she decided to just find her name on the bulletin board as soon as possible. Thankfully, her name was right at the top of the first list she saw.

"_Class F. Oh, Minato-senpai's here too. Or Minato-san now."_

Taking a quick glance at the class list, she saw that Yukari was also in the same class as she was.

"_That's nice. At least I'll know two people there already."_

Having obtained the information she was searching for, Hamuko started walking to where Yukari had pointed the faculty office was. Along the way, she passed an extremely strange pair consisting of a man in a samurai helmet _(Is that a teacher?)_ and a foreign looking student. From what she could tell, the topic of their conversation centred around samurais, bushido and zen. They seemed to be having fun.

Realizing she passed the faculty office due to the strange spectacle, she backpedalled and open the door. There was only one teacher in there at the moment. She looked up from her work and noticed Hamuko.

"Oh, are you one of the new students?" The teacher asked, to which Hamuko nodded.

"Hamuko Arisato, ma'am."

"Ah, hold on a moment." The teacher picked up one of two files large files lying on her table. Inwardly, Hamuko was amused at the messy condition of the desk, considering it belonged to a teacher.

"Hamuko Arisato... Grade 2, Junior, correct?" She perused the file, flipping through the pages. "Wow, you've lived in quite a lot of different places. Let's see. In 1999, your parents..." She gasped and closed the file.

"I'm sorry." The teacher gave her an apologetic look. "I've been so busy I haven't been able to read the file beforehand."

Hamuko managed a smile, though it was slightly painful to be reminded of her parents' deaths. "It's alright, sensei. It's been ten years now. I've had time to get over it."

The teacher smiled sympathetically. "I'm Toriumi-sensei. I teach Composition, mostly. Welcome to our school."

"Nice to meet ya, Sensei!" Hamuko greeted cheerfully, trying to push her parents out of her mind.

"My, aren't you an energetic one!" Toriumi commented. "Ah, to be young again..."

The door of the faculty office opened and a familiar voice rang out. "Excuse me, is class 2F's homeroom teacher here?"

Toriumi-sensei turned and saw another student she didn't recognize. "Ah, are you the other new student?"

Minato walked in. "Yes, Sensei."

He noticed Hamuko standing next to the teacher. "Oh, hello again, Hamuko-san."

"I see you two already know each other." Toriumi smiled.

"We've been assigned to the same dorm." Hamuko explained.

"Ah, I see." The teacher picked up the other large file on her desk. "Minato Arisato... are you two related?"

"Nope!"

"No, Sensei."

"A strange coincidence, then." Toriumi chuckled. "It'll get a little confusing if I call you both by your surname, so do you two mind if I address you by your first names?"

"Sure."

"Go ahead, Sensei."

"Alright then, Minato-kun, Hamuko-kun... To be honest, I haven't read your file either, Minato-kun." The teacher said a bit sheepishly. "Let's see... it says here you're a older than the normal age for Grade 2 by a year and you missed your year-end exams because..."

Toriumi read a little further and her eyes widened. "A coma?"

Hamuko turned to Minato curiously at that. Minato nodded and replied. "That's right, Sensei. I just got released from the hospital yesterday."

"I see..." Toriumi massaged her temples. Hamuko thought that she was likely wondering what the odds were of having both students have such unusual circumstances. And also that she probably should have learned after reading the first one out loud.

"I'm sorry, I really should've tried to make time to read both your files." She apologized again. "Anyway, since you weren't here earlier, Minato-kun, my name is Toriumi and I teach Composition."

Minato nodded. "Pleased to meet you."

"Oh? You're a polite one. Anyway, you two are in Class 2-F. That's my class, so you're both under me." The school bell rung, interrupting her.

"Well, the Welcoming Ceremony's about to start. We need to head to the auditorium first, so follow me."

And so they did.

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>"As you begin the school year..."<p>

It took six words for Hamuko to tune the old man on the podium out.

She wasn't trying to zone out. In fact, she entered the auditorium with the mindset of being a model student this year. Really, she did. But the stupid principal was just so BORING.

She tried to refocus on the principal again, only to find it impossible. Something about proverbs and a job. Hey, wasn't that part of that Christian religious book? She remembered seeing something like that once when she was younger...

She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.

Her internal struggle went unnoticed by those around her. She slid a glance at Minato, who happened to be just in front of her.

He was actually sleeping.

She puffed up her cheeks in annoyance. Why couldn't he have the same dilemma as her?

She dismissed the small voice in her head that she was being rather irrational. She could think whatever she wanted to think about if she wanted to think about it, damn it!

The small voice somehow rolled its eyes at her, and it was at this point Hamuko started questioning her sanity once again.

"...transfer student."

Her mental tug-of-war was interrupted by a gossiping male student from her class seated somewhere behind her.

"Yep, I've seen her too. Her name's Hamuko Arisato. She came to school with Yukari this morning."

Hamuko blew a strand of hair away from her face. It seemed that the rumour mill never stopped, regardless of where she went.

"Her? I thought the transfer student was a guy?"

"No way, I've seen her dude. That's a girl for sure."

"I'm pretty sure I heard Yukari-san say something about Arisato being a 'him'."

"Wait, do you think that he's a cross-dresser?"

"..."

"I'd still tap that."

That was where Hamuko drew the line. She got up, turned to the source of the voices and snapped.

"I'm not a cross-dresser. I'm a GIRL! These are REAL, thank you very much!"

...And then she realized where she was and her face caught on fire.

"Ahem," The principal cleared his throat. "We can very well see that, young lady. Would you please return to your seat so we may continue?"

The entire auditorium had turned their heads at the commotion. And at that exact moment, Hamuko decided without a doubt that she wanted to die right there and then. She nodded furiously in embarassment and sat down, her face flaming like a... It's not a good time for analogies, damn it!

Oh God, why did she do that? _Why why why why why_?

The assembly continued with everyone now fully awake. The hall was suddenly abuzz with talk about Hamuko's ridiculous outburst. She even heard a few loud whispers from the Senior classes across the hall mentioning 'transfer student' and 'those are real'.

The subject of everyone's amusement spent the rest of the assembly trying to find a way to hide her face.

"_Just kill me now."_

A quick and merciless death would be nice.

Throughout it all, a certain blue-haired student was miraculously still asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>Homeroom was over for the day. As it was the first day of the school year, there were no classes being taught for the day.<p>

One Hamuko Arisato was slumped over the desk with a depressed air around her.

The other Arisato was slumped over the desk for a completely different reason.

While the misconception had been cleared in Class 2-F when the two transfer students were introduced to the class, the rest of the school had had no such explanations. The two boys who were talking about her had apologized profusely to her about the whole incident, actually admitting their fault in the matter. Being the non-crossdressing, benevolent human being that she was, she had forgiven them, much to their relief.

Not completely though. Those bastards would one day rue the day.

But for now, she was just going to hide out in class until everyone had left school. Most of the class had already gone home. Hopefully she would sneak out unnoticed and everyone would forget her face by tomorrow.

She banged her head on her desk repeatedly. Who was she kidding? She wouldn't forget her just like that!

Hamuko, not exactly in her right state of mind, was honestly expecting 'These are REAL!' T-shirts to be on sale tomorrow. Buy one now and get a "I'm not a cross-dresser" hat for free!

"..."

Hamuko gave one final attempt of hammering the table deeper into the ground with nothing but her forehead before giving up and slumping over the desk once more.

"'Sup, dude?"

Hamuko looked up and gave the nastiest glare she could muster at the source of the voice being directed at her. It was one of the few of her classmates that actually stood out during the introductions; he sported baseball cap and a goatee. She couldn't remember his name though.

"Whoa, whoa, chill out, dude!" He stepped back in response, raising his hands in fear.

Hamuko growled menacingly. "I'm a GIRL, if the whole school hasn't heard by now."

The male student sighed. "It's just a figure of speech. Geez, talk about touchy."

"If you hadn't noticed yet, my entire social life is dead before it even began." Hamuko said before pouting. "I have the right to be touchy!"

The cap-wearing student chuckled. "Ah, c'mon, it's not THAT bad."

"I'm not a crossdresser. I'm a girl. These are real, thank you very much." Hamuko said monotonously.

"Hehe, instant classic." The boy replied, to which Hamuko slumped back onto the desk.

"Dead, I tell ya. So whaddaya want? I'm a little busy trying to forget everything that happened today, so if it's nothing important I'm going to continue what I was doing before." She deadpanned from the desk.

"Oh c'mon, let me introduce myself at least." He flashed a grin. "I'm Junpei Iori. Nice to meet ya."

"Nice to meet you too, Junpei. So anything important? If not I have something I need to do."

"H-hey, c'mon! Don't let it get you down." He said, trying to reassure her. "I transferred here in the second year of middle school myself. I know how tough it is being the new kid, so I thought I'd check up on ya. Make sure you don't jump out that window an' all."

To which Hamuko actually looked up and saw the window.

"...Huh. Maybe that would've been a better plan than slamming my head on the desk over and over again." She mused.

Junpei actually seemed a little panicked at that, before Hamuko laughed and gave him a quick smile. "I'm kidding, Iori-san."

"It ain't funny to joke about stuff like that." Junpei said, though he was still smiling. "And none of that Iori-san crap. That's my old man."

"Junpei-san, then?" Hamuko asked.

"Eh, it'll do for now." The boy answered. "So I take it you're feeling a lil' better?

Hamuko nodded rapidly, some of her regular personality already recovering. "And it's all thanks to you, Junpei-san!"

Junpei blushed, having no idea how to react to that. He rubbed the back of his neck rather sheepishly. "Well. I didn't do much-"

"At it again, huh? Honestly, is there any girl you wouldn't hit on?"

Yukari appeared, giving Junpei the stink eye.

"Huh? That's not what I was-"

"Did you ever think you might be bothering someone?" Yukari interrupted him relentlessly.

"Wait, what? But I was just being friendly!" He protested.

"Well, Hamuko-chan? You're the victim. What's your verdict?"

Junpei frowned. "So she's the victim AND the judge? Won't that make the trial a little bit biased?"

Yukari ignored him in favour of Hamuko. "Well, do you believe that the accused is guilty of hitting on you?"

The brunette who had suddenly been vested power pretended to think about it for a while.

"Based on the accused's track record of _attempted_ flirting (Hey!), according to Takeba-sama's witness, he would be the primary suspect for such a crime."

"You're taking HER side?" Junpei was full out panicking at this point. No doubt he had experienced his fair share of the diabolical schemes that women tended to cook up from time to time.

Hamuko held up a hand. "However! Based on both the crime scene and the victim's point of view, there is little evidence to support that claim. Furthermore, his actions have managed to indirectly aid his victim during her plight."

"Therefore, I pronounce him... GUILTY!"

"Huh? B-but wait! I wasn't tryin' ta-"

"...Of trying to cheer me up." Hamuko continued with a smile, to which the boy sighed in relief. "Thanks, Junpei-san."

"Eh, don't sweat it. We're classmates, it's what we do."

"I _do_ think that you were trying to flirt a little, though." Hamuko gave a knowing grin.

"Well, can ya fault me for that?" Junpei said. "You said it yourself. You're a GIRL. And a good-lookin' one at that."

"...And now it's gettin' a lil' creepy." Hamuko said.

"Seconded." Yukari said.

"Thirded."

The only other boy left in the classroom had woken up, it seemed. One drowsy-looking Minato Arisato was stretching and turning to look at the trio.

"So, what's up?" He said before yawning. "Besides Baseball cap-san here failing to flirt with Hamuko-san."

"Did you sleep well, Minato-san?" Hamuko asked. "I think you slept three-quarters of school away."

"It wasn't too bad." He replied. "So who's the Goatee?"

He was totally ripping off one of those guys from the Back Alley, but they didn't need to know that.

"'Sup dude. The name's Junpei Iori."

"Minato Arisato." The blue-haired boy introduced himself, although he had already done so earlier in class.

"Oh yeah, what's the deal with that? Having the same surname and all, I mea-"

"No relation." The two Arisatos eerily said in unison with completely expressionless faces.

"Creepy." Both Yukari and Junpei said, before realizing that they had done the exact same thing. Worse still, they had actually agreed on something.

"Anyway, some coincidence that we're all in the same homeroom, huh?" Yukari quickly said.

"Yeah, I know." The other brunette replied.

On the other hand, the blue-haired boy paused for a moment. "It must be fate."

Which he knew to be true, but again, they didn't need to know that.

"..."

"Senpai, I don't get how you can say such corny things with a straight face." Hamuko said, to which Minato immediately put on an annoyed expression again.

"No." Minato said. "You promised. No more Senpai this, no more Senpai that. We're in the same class, so stick to your word, Hamuko-san."

"...Huh? Senpai?" Junpei was confused, and it showed.

"Arisato-senpai here's actually a year older than us." Yukari explained. "And don't you dare give me that look, Senpai. I only said I would stop referring to you as my senior. I never said I would actually stop calling you Senpai."

"Wait, so you're sayin' he's older than us by a year? What's he doing in our class then?"

Minato had anticipated the question. "Long story short; I was in a coma, missed the final exams, and actually just got discharged from the hospital yesterday."

Junpei's eyes nearly bugged out. "You're serious?"

The two girls beside him nodded. "He and Hamuko-chan are staying in our dorm at the moment due to last minute placement issues." Yukari supplied.

"Wait, so you live in the same dorm as these two lovely ladies, Senpai?" Junpei asked. "Damn, you're the luckiest man alive!"

Minato groaned. Were they doing it on purpose, or was it just a side-effect of having his age altered?"

"I mean, c'mon." Junpei was still saying. "Think about it! A couple of cuties livin' under the same roof as you. That's the dream, man!"

"Yeah... _your_ dream." Yukari said.

Minato wisely chose not to say anything.

"Anyway, the rumor mill's been kickin' up again." Junpei changed the subject. "The whole school's abuzz with news about the two of you."

"Ugh, more rumours..." Hamuko said.

"What're they saying?" Minato asked, curious.

"Well, after Hamuko's display earlier this morning, people've kinda twisted the whole story, ya' know?" Junpei started. "For one, the whole cross-dressing thing stuck around."

"Oh, no..." Said brunette was starting to get depressed again.

"Except it's not about you." Junpei finished.

Hamuko gave a puzzled frown. "Whaddaya mean, Junpei-kun?"

If Junpei was surprised about the change in honorifics, he didn't show it. He did get a little uneasy though.

"Well... they're saying that since you had to deny being a cross-dresser, one of the two of you had to be one."

"Oh, no..." Hamuko said, seeing where this was going.

"So one of them took a picture of Minato-san over here and passed it around."

"..." Minato was dangerously quiet. "And?"

Junpei thought his life might be in danger depending on how he answered the question.

"Well... they thought you were skinny enough to pass for a girl." He gulped. "It didn't help that your hair's rather long for a guy and in their words, 'effeminate', as well."

Yukari looked rather horrified. "No..."

"Yeah." Junpei nodded solemnly. "He's Gekkoukan High's first transsexual cross-dresser."

Minato froze, before standing up and walking out of the room without a single word.

"You know, I get the cross-dresser part." Yukari glanced at Hamuko, who grimaced . "But where'd the transsexual part come from?"

"Eh, the idiots spreading the rumours didn't know the difference between a transvestite and a transsexual, and it kinda stuck." Junpei shrugged.

"..."

"...Junpei-kun, I hate to have to ask you this." Hamuko said. "...But do you know the difference between a transvestite and a transsexual?"

"Uh..." He hedged. "One of 'em dresses up while the other one plays for the other team?"

"Uh huh." Hamuko nodded. "Which is which?"

"Um..."

"You have no idea, do you?"

"Not a clue."

"One more question for you, then." Hamuko said. "Are you one of the idiots spreading these rumours?"

"..."

"..."

"Eheheh..." Junpei chuckled nervously. "Gotta go!"

The baseball cap-wearing student made a mad dash out of the classroom, fearing for his life.

"Damn it, Junpei. Get back here!" Yukari yelled, but to no avail. "I swear, he loves rumours and gossip more than the rest of the girls in this school. If Senpai ever finds out about this..."

"Huh, I guess you really aren't calling him Senpai just to annoy-" Hamuko suddenly froze before nudging Yukari to the entrance of the classroom.

"I see. Thank you for the information." Minato had a smile on his face. "Be sure to stop by the flower shop and get some flowers on your way home today."

"Huh?" The girls were confused. The boy's smile widened.

It was then that they realized something was off with Minato's smile. It seemed pleasant, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. Empty. Chilling.

"You'll be needing it for tomorrow. It's Iori's funeral, after all."

It promised death in all its entirety.

The blue-haired boy turned around and left the classroom, the air feeling colder with each step he took.

The two girls shivered.

"Hey, Hamuko..." Yukari said.

"...Yes, Yukari-chan?"

"Remind me never to piss Minato-senpai off."

"Sure." Hamuko nodded, still shaking slightly. "As long as you do the same for me. Technically, this whole situation was my fault. If I didn't decide to embarrass myself this morning, this whole rumour wouldn't have started up."

"Oh yeah, I've been meaning to ask. What's up with that anyway?"

"Please don't ask."

Yukari chuckled. "Okay then. Anyway, I've gotta go take care of some archery club stuff." She massaged her temples. "I swear, agreeing to be the secretary was the worst idea I've ever had. You're okay going home on your own, right?"

"Yeah, no problem!" Hamuko affirmed.

"Alright then. See you back at the dorm." Yukari waved and left the room.

Now that the school seemed empty enough, Hamuko decided that it was finally safe to leave.

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>"I'm back." Hamuko announced tiredly, stepping into the dorm.<p>

"Welcome back." Mitsuru greeted her. "You're late, considering you haven't joined any clubs yet."

"...I got lost again." The brunette muttered. "So I decided to just have dinner at a restaurant nearby since I was already there."

This time, Hamuko had accidentally gotten off the train one stop too early and ended up in some kind of strip mall. She was hungry, so she decided to sample some sushi from a place called Wakatsu that was supposed to make the consumer smarter. She felt she needed it after today's debacle, even if it was likely to be just advertising. By the time she reached the dorm, the sun was already beyond the horizon.

"I see." Mitsuru said. "Do let someone know when you're going to be back late if you can next time. It's dangerous to be out alone at night."

"Okay, Senpai." Hamuko agreed, before writing her name and time of entry on the sign-in sheet at the counter.

"By the way, Arisato..." The redhead seemed to hesitate. "May I inquire as to why you felt the need to declare your gender to the whole school during the Principal's speech?"

Hamuko groaned. "Please don't ask."

"Very well." Mitsuru chuckled. "I hope that there won't be a repeat occurrence, however."

"You aren't the only one." The brunette said drearily. "Anyway, I'm feeling rather tired. I think I'll call it a day."

"Alright. Rest well, Arisato."

"You too, Senpai." She walked past Mitsuru and waved at Yukari, who was eating some cup ramen at the dinner table, before heading upstairs.

Reaching her room, she groaned when she realized she hadn't finished unpacking. Deciding to put it off yet another day, she took a quick shower and crashed onto her bed.

For some strange reason, she had been feeling really tired ever since arriving at Tatsumi Port Island. Like there was a weight settling on top of her mind.

Within seconds of her head hitting the pillow she was asleep and off to another world.

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>Minato had returned to the dorm even later than Hamuko, but Mitsuru didn't ask him quite as many questions besides the cursory request to notify one of the dorm members.<p>

It seemed being a year older gave him more freedom than before. Mitsuru would've been much more concerned about his late arrival if her were a year younger. It was a good trade-off for the whole Senpai issue, he supposed, considering it didn't bother him too much besides being a change from what he was used to.

Honestly, he wasn't too bothered by the rumours Junpei had had a hand in starting. It would die off sooner or later, after all. It wasn't like it was anything too new, anyway. Minato was well aware his hairstyle was metrosexual, and was used to such comments by now. He honestly didn't think the rumour would survive too long, though it did make a dent on his reputation.

Not that it really mattered to him anyway. Facing the embodiment of the Night really opens one's eyes to what was truly important in life. Seeing Junpei again had put him in a good mood. He had already reunited with three of the most important people to him.

The blue-haired boy sat at the dinner table alone, waiting for the free-to-take cup ramen he had fixed to finish cooking itself in the hot water. He glanced at the living room. Mitsuru was still on her laptop. She was probably doing research on the college syllabus that she was working on. She always did like to study ahead.

He hadn't encountered the Traitor today, so he supposed he would be meeting him tomorrow. Minato couldn't really remember the actual dates of when things occurred. They took place literally a lifetime ago, after all. Instead, he remembered the sequence of the events that took place within his first lifetime.

He remembered meeting Ikutsuki before he had summoned Orpheus and Thanatos for the first time. The full moon was tomorrow and the chairman wasn't here today, so he put two and two together.

He needed a plan on how to deal with Ikutsuki as soon as possible. SEES wouldn't believe him if he told them. They had known the Chairman for too long, and he was trusted in all things Shadow-related. No one had really suspected his motives the first time around.

The first thought that came to his mind caused him to be repulsed at his thoughts, but he considered it anyway.

Should he just kill Ikutsuki?

Killing him before he could lead them on about the Shadows was an option, but that would leave the group directionless. They would continue hunting the Arcana Shadows anyway as he had no way of convincing them to do otherwise. If he spoke up, he would very clearly divide SEES into two factions; those who would believe him, and those that wouldn't.

Fuuka and Ken would believe him. He knew Junpei and Mitsuru wouldn't, though the latter would have her doubts. Yukari would side with him just to spite Mitsuru. Akihiko would follow Mitsuru to the ends of the Earth. Shinji would stay out of things altogether. Koromaru, as intelligent as he was, would continue protecting the shrine. And Hamuko... he really had no clue, but he knew Aigis would follow her as per Akihiko and Mitsuru.

If the twelve Shadows were successfully defeated by Mitsuru's faction, humanity's last stand would be divided and would inevitably fall.

That wasn't his only concern. The act of killing was simply morally reprehensible to him.

Minato had never taken a life before. Even when Takaya and Jin barred their way to Nyx in the Tower of Demise, SEES had shown them mercy. He had had the final say, and he chose not to kill them. Their purpose on the 31st of January was to save the lives of humanity, not taking them.

Somehow, he knew that if he chose to kill Ikutsuki, he would forever be tainted with murder. No matter how he tried to justify it, he couldn't bring himself to agree to kill someone. He wouldn't be able to live with himself, even if he knew that Ikutsuki did and deserved to die. If he took one life, it would open a whole other can of worms. Killing would only get easier and easier. The prospect of losing himself in such a way scared him worse than death itself.

No, killing Ikutsuki was never really an option. He steered far and clear away from those thoughts.

If he completely ignored the Chairman altogether, things might play out the same way as they did the last time around with Hamuko sacrificing herself to save the world. But the two of them were different, so he wasn't even sure if SEES would make it that far this time around either.

Before he palmed himself in the forehead. It wasn't like HE wasn't around at all. Worst comes to worst, he knew he was strong enough to spearhead the climb to the roof of Tartarus by himself. He had managed to survive the depths of the Monad, after all.

So that was still an option, then. Let the same story be told, and let Hamuko sacrifice herself to become the Great Seal.

Minato shook his head. That would be the last resort. If Fate had decided to place him in this Universe, that meant he had a role to play in the shaping of its future. He would rather Hamuko survive.

Which brought his thoughts to turn to the girl in question. He had observed her behaviour for the whole day now. Or whenever he wasn't asleep. Whatever.

He had found her to be his polar opposite. She was excitable, he was calm. She was impulsive, he was calculating. She was energetic, he was lazy. She was naturally sociable, he needed time to adapt. Her laugh was infectious, he never really laughed at all.

To take things even further, it seemed her favourite colour was orange. His was blue. The exact opposite on the colour spectrum. And of course, gender differences.

It was as if Fate was playing a cruel trick on him. She was everything he was not.

And therein lied the reason he wasn't sure of the outcome this time around. Maybe she would be better for SEES than he was. Maybe she would be worse. Only time would tell.

It was then that he realized that no matter whether he used a hands-on approach or not, things were already slated to change. The little differences here and there would add up in the long run, no doubt. The Butterfly Effect practically demanded it. And if things were already going to change, then he might as well have his say in it.

He returned to his original train of thought. He had already ruled out killing Ikutsuki. That meant his only real option was to let things be. Or maybe...

An absolutely illogical and outrageous idea entered his mind.

Was it possible to talk to Ikutsuki?

The more Minato pondered about the it, the more it seemed to make sense. If he could convince the Chairman on a few key points, like his nihilism and disdain of the human race, things might turn out to be for the better.

Or it could simply be a fool's errand. He chuckled at the unintended wordplay.

An errand only a Fool would run. Every second he took considering the idea only made it him like it more.

He suddenly remembered that he was in the midst of waiting for his noodles to cook, and opened the flap of the cup to find them overcooked, a little cold and rather soggy. He inwardly groaned, but he didn't mind it too much.

Because Minato Arisato finally had a real plan for the future for the first time since returning to the past.

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>AN: Booya! It's done. The fic seems to be getting a rather overwhelming response, considering the Persona fanfic community isn't as big as the others on the site. You guys must really like time travel fics or something. 18 follows in 2 chapters is simply mind-blowing. Seeing the demand, I decided to hurry things up a bit and work more on the fic. (I was procrastinating with a couple of games)

If you think what I'm writing now doesn't have any continuity with the author's note at the top, it's probably because you have a little too much time. And because I write those when I start writing, and these when I finish up a chapter. I was initially planning to take this one to the epic declaration of "Per...so...na", but somehow it ended up getting longer and longer without me even realizing it. I decided to keep it at this length, though, because I found a very nice place to stop.

I'm also realizing that I'm writing this fic in extreme detail. I mean, it's only the SECOND day of the game, and I'm already edging on 13,000 words. God knows how many more there'll be at this point. By the end of the game, I think I'd have approximately 500,000 words or maybe even more. It's scary just thinking about it. But hey, if the interest keeps up...

But enough about the unimportant details of the writer's thoughts, and let's get on to a casual explanation of the fic's progress. Honestly, the entire direction of this chapter ran away on its own. From a minor change in the morning with an attempted Social Link with Mitsuru, to the whole debacle in the assembly and class, the fic took on a mind of its own. I didn't even remotely plan to deviate whatsoever. I hope that I managed to tickle your funny bone though. Hamuko's rather amusing announcement actually tickled mine when it came to mind.

I've also decided on a new formatting style. The -RRR- breaks are mostly to help those who use their phone apps to read fics like myself. They don't support line breaks. Plus, it looks fancier anyway, so I'm keeping it. I'll re-do the breaks in Chapter 1 and 2 when I inevitably return to edit them.

It seems that the fic will be following a rather unplanned format for now, with Hamuko taking the spotlight until the very end, where you finally get to see the part you probably came for; Minato. Speaking of which, I hope what I wrote made sense. I personally think that he would be indisposed to the act of killing whatsoever. He has never killed before, even in the past. He survived with his morals intact. And unless there was no other way, he wouldn't resort to killing. He certainly isn't opposed to letting him die, though. Just having a hand in it himself. I think I've nailed the his hesitance to change things pretty well, considering he's the type to overthink stuff until the very last moment.

For those sharp enough to catch it, yes, Minato meant three, not four. He lied to cover his slip of tongue.

I have a few ideas for the fic planned ahead. It's not set in stone, but I don't think I'll forget. You'll see.

Oh, talking to Ikutsuki? Inspired by P4G's Jester social link. Not that I've played the Golden version, but those who have will know what I mean.

Okay, enough with this long-ass AN. I hope you've enjoyed reading this humble writer's fic thus far. I'll try to get a new chapter out soon. Review, favourite or follow if you like what you see. Or not. It's up to you.

But seriously. Do it.


	4. Chapter 4: Pick a Card

**Chapter 4: Pick a Card**

A/N: Ah, so much response does my heart good. I want to write even more now. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Who knows what'll happen? Not me. Anyways, onward!

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>"Hey, have you heard about that really freaky rumour?"<p>

Hamuko couldn't help but overhear a student gossiping on the train ride to school. She was alone today. Apparently everyone had something to do in school today and had all left the dorm about an hour before she did.

"Freaky? I don't know... something about a bathroom?"

Hamuko wondered idly what Minato did when he left early. Being a new student, he wouldn't be involved in any clubs yet. Maybe he went to the library to study?

"No, dummy, that was last week! Though I have to admit, that one was kinda scary too."

The brunette thought the library was unlikely. Why would the blue-haired boy study in the library only to sleep in class?

"Anyway, I heard a first-year stopped coming to school altogether. She does nothing but sit in her room and stare at the walls all day."

No, it didn't really make any sense. Maybe he had a girlfriend? It _would_ make some sense.

"Okay, but that's pretty normal nowadays, isn't it? What with NEETs being more common and all."

...Except he had only been awake for three days, apparently.

"No, no, the freaky part is that when her mom tries to talk to her, she doesn't answer and just mutters to herself, "It's coming... it's coming..."

Well, maybe he had a girlfriend from before the coma?

"O-okay, stop! I admit; it's really creepy."

Again, Hamuko doubted it. He wasn't even living in Tatsumi Port Island before his coma, so his girlfriend wouldn't be here.

"Isn't it though? It sounds like it's taken right out of a ghost story!"

Wait, maybe he was on vacation visiting his girlfriend that lived here! That would make sense.

"Is it even true? Seems kinda suspicious to me."

Of course, this was assuming he even had a girlfriend.

"Matsu-chan saw her herself! And you know Matsu-chan never lies."

All this thinking was hard work. Not that thinking was particularly hard or anything. But she felt thirsty, so she took a drink from her bottle.

"Well... that's true. Oh, check this out! Apparently Gekkoukan High now has our very own transsexual cross-dresser!"

And promptly choked.

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>Class passed by rather quickly with relatively nothing interesting. Hamuko, trying to make up to Minato for causing the stupid rumour, was hard at work taking two sets of notes while the blue-haired boy slept throughout all his classes. By the time Toriumi-sensei came in for Composition, her hand was fully numb.<p>

Why was she doing this again? It wasn't her problem that he was sleeping in class, so why was she even bothering to help him?

Oh, right. Because of Junpei. It was all Junpei's fault.

Yeah, if Junpei didn't spread those rumours, she wouldn't be feeling guilty about them!

Stupid guilt. Stupid Junpei.

Well, at least Toriumi-sensei told them to open their textbooks, so she could take a well-deserved break for now. The Composition teacher was going on a rant about two dead people that she didn't really know or care about. Utsubo Kubota and some Zenzou whatever. Names were never her strong suit.

At least she was paying attention, though her eagerness to continue doing so was decreasing with every second of the teacher's rant.

To the side, she caught Junpei doodling on his textbook. From what she could tell it wasn't the Mona Lisa, but she was surprised that Junpei could draw at all.

Unfortunately for the boy, Toriumi-sensei caught him as well.

"Hey, Junpei! Were you listening?"

Apparently even the teachers called him by his first name. The boy jumped from his seat and scrambled to attention. "Y-yeah!"

"Who did I say was my favourite author?"

Panicking wildly, Junpei looked left and right and finally locked eyes with Hamuko, casting a desperate glance at her that practically screamed _'Help me!_"

Taking pity on him, she mouthed the syllables 'Ku-bo-ta' as subtly as she could without drawing attention to herself.

"K-Kubota?" He stuttered the answer to Toriumi-sensei, who didn't seem to catch the byplay between the two students.

She seemed surprised. "Huh, I guess you were listening to me after all."

"Ehehe. You know how I like to pay attention!" Junpei floundered, seeming just as amazed.

Hamuko facepalmed. That was NOT how you play off suspicions from a teacher.

"Really now. Then I suppose you also know who we're covering today then."

This time, Junpei had a look of despair on his face. He swivelled his head slightly to her again, and she mouthed 'Zen-zou'.

"Zanzu?" The baseball cap wearing teen guessed.

"Just so you know, it's Zenzou Kasai." Toriumi-sensei said with a knowing look on her face. "And Hamuko-kun, try to be less obvious next time."

The brunette's face reddened rapidly, and she nodded bashfully. "Hai, sensei."

"Good, now pay attention this time, Junpei! Zenzou Kasai was a writer favouring novels as his main medium..."

She heard someone whisper from behind her. "Well, at least she tried."

"Yeah, though Junpei's kind of a lost cause..."

Hamuko fully agreed with those words.

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>Junpei walked over to her again after class was dismissed.<p>

"Hey, sorry for puttin' you on the spot like that." He apologized. "I do appreciate you tryin', though."

"It's your fault if my reputation sinks any lower than it has." Hamuko pointed at him imperiously. "In fact, I shouldn't be seen hanging out with you."

"For real?" Junpei actually looked a little hurt at that last one, and Hamuko's face softened a little.

"I'm just kidding, Junpei-kun." She lowered her hand. "I don't really care too much about stuff like that, and you're too fun a person to not hang with anyway!"

"W-What?" The teen was clearly unused to direct compliments like these, but he managed to cover up his discomfort with his special brand of humour. "Oh-ho! I guess the Junster strikes again!"

"Aaaand now it's just sad."

"Hey! I'll have you know the ladies dig the Junster!" The 'Junster' said, though Hamuko could see he was clearly playing around.

"Oh, please. Before Hamuko-chan here came along no girl would talk to you for more than five minutes before running off."

Yukari had walked to the duo and joined their conversation.

"That's just 'cuz the legendary Junster charm overwhelmed them!" Junpei said. "No girl can stand in my presence before quiverin' in desire!"

"Yeah, a desire to leave."

"Hey, I resent that!"

Hamuko giggled at the banter between her two classmates. It was pretty clear that they were rather close, even if they wouldn't admit it out loud.

"Iori." A chilling voice said, and a silence descended upon the trio. Minato had awoken.

"Ahaha... Arisato-senpai." Junpei was beginning to sweat profusely. The blue-haired boy had a very intimidating presence for some reason. Hamuko couldn't quite place a finger on it.

"Seven days."

"W-what?"

"Seven days." He repeated ominously, before walking out of the classroom, leaving the other three behind.

Junpei shuddered, relieved that the danger had passed. He took a seat, still rather shaky from the encounter.

"Hey..." Yukari started. "Whaddaya think he meant by seven days?"

"I'm assuming it's a countdown." Hamuko said. "Seven days to live, sound familiar?"

"Oh, it's from that old horror flick, isn't it? Ring or something like that?"

Hamuko nodded. The classic horror film had been an old nemesis of hers growing up. A dead girl emerging from a television to kill people? How messed up was that? The ending had left her shaken, as it showcased the darkest nature of humanity. Those willing to save themselves at the cost of damning others.

It was an undesired realization of the human race that had left her in dread for weeks after she watched the film.

"You've never watched it?" Hamuko asked, curious that Yukari was talking about it so casually. She had, after all, displayed a fear of the paranormal when Hamuko had asked her about the kid in the black and white striped prison outfit.

Yukari shook her head. "I've never worked up the guts to. I was thinking about getting the novel instead, but I heard that it's even worse."

"I wish I'd never seen it." Hamuko said, and turned to Junpei. "Have you?"

Junpei seemed to have recovered adequately and nodded. "Yeah. I hated that movie. The whole ending just seems so... messed up, somehow."

Hamuko agreed whole-heartedly with that fact.

"Discounting the movie, what do you think Senpai meant?" Yukari asked, changing the topic.

"Chances are he's gonna get back at me when the time's up." Junpei said, shrugging. "I'm not too worried about it."

"You were kinda shaking in your shoes earlier, Junpei." Hamuko said. "You'd probably faint or something when it actually happens."

"Hey, c'mon. Is that what you really think of me?" The boy asked, seeming offended.

"Yes." Both girls deadpanned in response.

"Tch. I ain't scared of him." Junpei said. "Besides, it's a week from now. The rumours'll die down by then and he'll probably cool off."

"Well, whatever happens then, you brought this on yourself." Hamuko said, ending the discussion of that topic. She then looked down at the set of notes that she had intended to give to Minato.

"Shoot, I forgot to pass this to Minato-san. I'm going to see if I can catch up to him." She hoisted her bag over her shoulders and ran out of the classroom. "Laters!"

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>She was lucky enough to catch sight of Minato just as he walked out of the school gates.<p>

"Heeyyy! Minato-saaan!" She called out, trying to get him to stop.

The boy didn't respond or turn around. In fact, he didn't even react. Then she noticed that he was wearing his headphones, so he probably didn't even hear her at all.

Growling under her breath, she sped up to reach him before he crossed the first street and tapped his shoulder.

She didn't expect him to suddenly spin and grab hold of her wrist. Wait, was that his fist incoming-

She closed her eyes and braced for impact. When she felt none, she opened her eyes hesitantly.

His eyes were slightly wide with recognition as the punch was held merely inches away from her face, before he dropped his arm rather sheepishly and took off his earphones.

Now that the danger had passed, her panicked face had morphed into a frown. "Were you just about to hit me?"

"It was a reflex. You shouldn't sneak up on people like that."

"Sneak up? Sneak up?!" Hamuko was in disbelief. "I literally yelled at you five seconds ago, but you were too busy listening to those stupid headphones to listen!"

"They're not stup- That's not the point." Minato quickly dodged that bullet and shook his head.

"No, it's not. The point is that you almost punched me!"

"Almost, but I didn't." Minato said. "Well, I'm sorry about almost hitting you, but sneaking up on me is generally a bad idea."

"Hmph. Don't try to brush it off like it's my fault." She huffed. "You owe me lunch now."

The blue-haired boy chuckled. "Alright, alright."

"By the way, can you let go of my wrist now?"

The boy did as requested rather nonchalantly.

"Huh... no reaction?" Hamuko was surprised. "Normally in anime and stuff the guy gets really embarrassed when something like that happens..."

Minato laughed. "Life isn't like anime, Hamuko-san." Then he paused, considering something. "Well, not all the time, at least."

"You know, I'd bet Junpei-kun would probably get super embarrassed."

"Yeah, but Junpei doesn't really have any experience with girls."

Hamuko thought that there was something about what Minato just said that didn't quite add up, but couldn't quite pinpoint it. Putting that aside, this was a perfect opportunity to confirm her theory about a girlfriend this morning!

"And I suppose you do?"

The blue-haired teen smiled rather wistfully. "Maybe once upon a time, Hamuko-san."

Rather unsatisfied by the vague answer but knowing a touchy subject when she saw one, she decided to just get to the main reason she had attempted to catch him.

"Anyway, I came to pass you the notes for today's class." She said, handing the notes to him. He was clearly confused.

"Wait, you took notes for me?" He said, perusing the handwritten notes. They were surprisingly neat and colour-coded. "What for?"

"Well, you're asleep in class all the time, so how are you supposed to study otherwise?" She said, annoyed. "And I feel kinda guilty for causing all those rumours about you, so..." She trailed off.

Minato chuckled softly. "You're forgetting that I'm a repeater, Hamuko-san. I've learnt it all before. That's why the teachers are being so lenient with me sleeping in class."

And there it was. The final piece of a two-part puzzle had finally revealed itself to Hamuko.

The girl let out a frustrated yell.

"Arrgh! Why couldn't you have told me earlier? My poor hand..." She nursed the hand in question. "You owe me two lunches now!"

"Wait, what? I didn't even know you were copying them! How is this my fault?" He protested, to no avail.

"I don't care!" She puffed rather childishly. "Two! Lunches!"

The boy groaned. "One lunch and a snack. That's the highest I'll go."

"Deal!" The girl said happily, extending her miraculously recovered hand for a business handshake, which Minato reluctantly accepted. The two then resumed their journey back to the dorm.

"So what's this about you causing all those rumours about me?" The boy asked. "Did you help spread them or something? Because so help me, if you did..."

"No no, I didn't spread them at all! But I kinda might've made a scene during the welcoming ceremony that caused the whole thing..."

"I was sleeping the moment the principal opened his mouth. What happened?"

"I noticed." Hamuko said dryly. "Anyway, some guys behind me were whispering something about the new transfer student being a cross-dresser..." She trailed off again.

"And?"

"And I maybe kinda... stood up and declared to the entire school that I was not a cross-dresser, I was a girl, and that 'these are real, thank you very much'. It wasn't exactly the smartest moment of my life."

Minato couldn't help bursting into a fit of laughter. It took him a few seconds to recover.

"That explains _so_ much."

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up now." Hamuko grumbled. "I think you got the worse end of the deal with the rumours, though."

"I don't really care about them." The blue-haired boy admitted. "Rumours are just rumours, after all. They'll pass."

"So the whole 'seven days' thing with Junpei was..."

"Just to freak him out, yeah."

"So you're not really going to do anything to him?" Hamuko asked.

"Nah, I'm just going to make him sweat a little bit." Minato smiled. "Don't tell him though. It'll be our little secret."

"...That sounded horribly flirty, Minato-san." The girl deadpanned.

This time she elicited a tiny response from the blue-haired boy. He had a slight frown on his face. "That's not what I meant."

The two of them continued their talk as they boarded the monorail. Hamuko found Minato extremely easy to talk with- even more so than Yukari. There was something about him that put her at ease, even with the one year age difference. Maybe it was because of the same surname or something, but by the time they stepped out of the train she felt like she had known him all her life.

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>When the two returned back to the dorm, the man Minato wished he had never met was in the living room talking to Yukari. Even with all his mental preparation beforehand, actually seeing the bastard's face again was a lot harder than he thought it would be.<p>

He realized that he was clenching his fists and relaxed them slowly and deliberately.

"Oh, they're back." Yukari pointed out to the Chairman. "Hey guys."

Hamuko seemed confused. "How'd you get back so fast? We left before you did."

"Well, I just got back myself. I think we got on the same train, but missed each other or something."

Minato barely heard the conversation, instead focusing on Ikutsuki. The man was listening to the conversation with a genial expression on his face. As far as Minato could tell, it wasn't faked, which brought most of his anger to an abrupt halt. Because Minato had never been wrong about a person before.

Had Ikutsuki actually _enjoyed_ meeting them? It was difficult to fake an expression when one wasn't aware they were being scrutinized. Even a Fool would be hard pressed to keep his mask up when not performing.

"So these are our new guests." The Chairman chimed in on the girls' conversation. "Good evening."

He proceeded to introduce himself. "My name is Shuji Ikutsuki. I'm the Chairman of the Board of your school."

"Nice to meet you, Ikutsuki-san!" Hamuko greeted, while Minato just nodded, distracted.

The Chairman chuckled. "'Ikutsuki'... It's a bit hard to say, isn't it? That's why I don't really like introducing myself. Even I get tongue-tied sometimes." Hamuko gave a slight giggle to that.

Again, Minato couldn't detect any negative emotions, no matter how hard he tried. The man wasn't putting on an act at all as far as he could tell. The blue-haired boy's thoughts were racing around his mind a thousand times a second. What could that mean, though? Didn't he plan to betray SEES from the start? That was what he had said, wasn't it? That he had waited ten long years? There was not even a hint of the twisted insanity the Chairman had shown before. But he _knew_ that the Chairman had betrayed them, and he had shown some true depths of depravity then.

Minato calmed himself. He was jumping at straws based on preliminary data. Maybe the Chairman had no qualms with the people in SEES, or Ikutsuki could very well just be the best actor in the world. Maybe he had a split-personality disorder. Or maybe he wouldn't betray them in this dimension. But the Fall was slated to happen here, Igor had already confirmed it.

He took a deep breath. Nothing was making sense at the moment.

The Chairman was currently apologizing for the confusion in Hamuko's accommodations, and this time Minato could tell he wasn't genuinely sorry about it. So him originally ending up in this dorm was planned, at the very least.

"Ah, and here's the hero who valiantly saved the life of a child in spite of himself."

Ikutsuki was talking to him. _That bastard _was talking to him. Minato wasn't sure how to respond without sounding angry.

"Mitsuru was telling me about you. I'm glad that you've decided to continue your studies in our school. Do you like the school so far?"

Minato just nodded mechanically in response. It wouldn't do to say something untoward towards the Chairman.

"Not much of a talker, I see. Or maybe you're just tired." Ikutsuki chuckled. While Minato knew in his mind that the Chairman meant nothing by it, it still felt like he was being mocked. "Still recovering from your coma, I suppose.

Minato nodded again, this time managing to say a simple "Yes."

"Well, it would be remiss of me to keep you from your much needed rest." Ikutsuki said. "The early bird catches to bookworm, after all!"

"Yeah, Ikutsuki-san, but the second mouse gets _Gouda_ at his studies!"

The room froze. Then as one, three out of the four heads present swivelled to the source of the last sentence.

"Hamuko-chan... d-did you just..." Yukari was flabbergasted, a look of pure shock appearing on her face.

Hamuko just stood there with a cheesy grin on her-

Minato caught his thoughts part way and groaned inwardly. It was a freakin' epidemic.

The Chairman, on the other hand, was clutching his sides, trying to catch his breath as he howled in laughter. "G-Gets Gou...Gouda! Hahahaha!"

The blue-haired boy hoped darkly that the traitor would die from laughter. However, the tension was released from his shoulders and he finally managed to relax. The pun, as stupid as it was, helped set him at ease with being in close proximity with the Chairman. Minato whispered a silent thank you to his female counterpart, but turned to her out of a matter of principle.

"I would like to remind everyone present that we are _not_ related."

"But Minato-san, it was just a _Brie_-f pun! It wasn't even that _cheesy_!" She whined.

Ikutsuki laughed even harder at that, while Yukari was still in shock.

Minato decided to just walk on past and head up the stairs.

"Oh come on, don't be _Bleu_! It was just a little joke." Hamuko continued, then paused. "Oh wait, your hair _is_ blue."

The boy simply put on his headphones and turned up the volume as he continued walking up the stairs. His female counterpart was truly his polar opposite, and right now, she deserved to be ignored completely. Until she atoned for her sins, she was getting the silent treatment. He had other things to think on at the moment anyway. Like Ikutsuki, and what he was going to do during the Full Moon tomorrow night.

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>It took a while for the man she had just met to recover from his laughing fit. Hamuko was a little proud of that fact.<p>

"Ah, I haven't laughed like that in years." The Chairman said, with a happy smile on his face. "People around here never appreciate a good pun, let alone respond."

"There's a reason for that, y'know." Yukari was not amused. "Please tell me you're not going to be doing that regularly, Hamuko-chan."

The brunette winked. "No promises."

"Speaking of promises, where is Mitsuru, Yukari?" Ikutsuki asked.

"She's upstairs."

"As diligent as always." Ikutsuki mused. "Although it doesn't hurt to come downstairs and say hello. I suppose I should be heading up then. It was most enjoyable meeting you, Hamuko." He paused. "You don't mind me calling you that, do you?"

"Go right ahead." Hamuko was rather indifferent to what people called her by.

"Thank you. Now, I'm sure you must be rather tired, given all the excitement. It might be best for you to head to bed early."

"Actually, I haven't finished unpacking yet." Hamuko admitted a bit shamefully. "I've been a little tired since I got here, so..."

"Ah, I understand. Very well then. I'll be heading up now." He nodded to the two girls. "Till next time."

He then proceeded to head up the stairs, leaving Hamuko and Yukari downstairs.

The latter turned to Hamuko. "I'm not talking to you."

The girl pouted. "But Yukarin, it's wasn't even that bad!"

The pink-wearing girl was surprised at the nickname, but rolled her eyes at her fellow brunette. "Yeah, but you can do Feta than that."

She stopped in shock. Then she looked at Hamuko, who was in a similar state of disbelief.

"This is all your fault."

And promptly ran upstairs to scrub out the bad taste on her tongue.

Hamuko laughed lightly and proceeded to head to her room as well. She had been putting off unpacking for long enough. Any longer and her clothes would begin to smell musty, which meant that she would have to do laundry before being able to wear them. That would be unnecessary extra work, so she sat down and began to unpack.

The brunette was about finished with her task when the clock struck twelve and the world turned green once more.

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>"She's still human and she isn't panicking." Ikutsuki said, somewhat in wonder.<p>

The Chairman had hinted to Hamuko to sleep early today so that he could observe her when the Dark Hour began. Now, he was glad that she had other plans; he was able to collect new data on a whole different level. A few new theorems were already running through his head!

"She arrived at the dorm at the end of the Dark Hour." Mitsuru explained. "She must've experienced it already."

"Is that so? It is intriguing that she was able to function coherently, especially for her first time."

"She might have experienced it before that day, then."

Ikutsuki chuckled. Mitsuru was a sharp one. "Indeed, but for the purpose of this experiment we should assume it to be so."

"Experiment? Aren't we treating her like some kind of guinea pig? She's human too, y'know."

Ah, Yukari, the ever so precious daughter of his old rival, Eiichiro Takeba. Such naivete.

"It's necessary." He explained to her. "We may be able to gather more data on Shadows and the Dark Hour based on what we find out about her."

"And what about Minato-senpai?"

His attention flickered to the other person on the screen. The boy wasn't as interesting as the girl.

"He's asleep, but he's definitely experiencing the Dark Hour. We've been checking in on him since he was in a coma, so it's nothing new. We've yet to see him awake during this time."

The three fell into a contemplative quiet for a few seconds, before Yukari broke the silence.

"D'you think that Hamuko-chan knows what's going on?"

"Arisato is most likely confused, but she seems to be cognizant." Mitsuru supplied.

The girl on the monitor shrugged at the lights going out and started to change into her pajamas.

"And that's enough observation for the night." The redhead quickly cut off the signal before Hamuko took off her shirt.

"They both must have the potential." Ikutsuki mused, leaning back on his chair. "If they didn't, the shadows would've preyed on them by now."

"Not necessarily." Mitsuru contradicted him. "They may be similar to you, Ikutsuki-san."

"I had to undergo a process to become aware of the Dark Hour." The Chairman explained. "My awareness is artificial, so Shadows cannot sense my presence unless I provoke them. Not that I have any intentions of doing so, of course." He chuckled.

"I see. Then this may indeed be good news for us." Mitsuru said. "Perhaps she might be willing to join us..."

"Perhaps."

The three individuals were silent for the rest of the night. Mitsuru was worrying about Akihiko, who had gone on patrol yet again. Yukari was struggling with the ethics of observing her two new classmates. And Ikutsuki...

Ikutsuki was furiously contemplating more jokes to use for the next pun-off against Hamuko.

Seriously, how do you compete with someone who could rattle off puns like that at the drop of a hat?

Meanwhile, somewhere in the middle of Tatsumi Port Island, a young man grabbed his ichor-covered forehead in fear and screamed for help. Only the moon heard his cry as it echoed on into the night, long forgotten.

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>Soft music filled Hamuko's ears. She opened her eyes to a deep blue room. She glanced around, confused as to where she was.<p>

"Welcome to the Velvet Room."

The girl spun to see a mysterious old man with an abnormally large nose sitting on a chair in front of a round table. She blurted out the first thing that entered her mind.

"Who are you?"

The old man smiled a Cheshire smile. "My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance."

Hamuko nodded, unsure of how to proceed. She decided on a question. "What is this place, exactly?"

Igor's smile widened. "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter."

"I'm not going to pretend to understand what that means." Hamuko said dryly. "More importantly, why am I here?"

"In time, you will understand." Igor said mystically, before answering her question. "As for why you are here, you have signed a contract, have you not?"

Hamuko paused. "Yeah, with that creepy kid."

"Only those who have signed such a contract may enter this place." The old man snapped his fingers, and the binder that contained the contract Hamuko signed appeared on the table. It flipped open to the page of the contract. Sure enough, there was her signature there. It was messy, but it was undeniably hers.

"How did you do that?!" Hamuko asked, rather impressed. "Are you some kind of magician?"

"...Not quite." Igor gave a tolerant grin. "I am merely the Proprietor of this Room. Henceforth, you shall always be welcome here. Assuming you abide by the bindings of your contract and accept all responsibility of the consequences caused by your decisions, of course. "

The single term that she had signed to days earlier was still fresh in her mind. "I chooseth this fate of mine own free will?"

"Exactly." Igor seemed pleased. "You are destined to hone your unique ability, and you will require my help to do so."

Hamuko was confused at that. The man seemed to leap from topic to topic. "What are you talking about?"

The mysterious old man chuckled. "All will be revealed in due time."

The brunette wondered if he was being cryptic just to annoy her. "I assume you're not going to tell me?"

"It would be remiss of me to ruin the surprise." Igor outright smirked at her, before snapping his fingers once again. This time, a beautiful crystal key manifested before Hamuko.

"Hold on to this."

Hamuko hesitantly grabbed the key, which vanished the moment she touched it. However, the brunette felt something subtle change in her mind.

"It will allow you to visit this Room again when you require our services." Igor stated. "Speaking of which, there are others who reside in this room, but are unfortunately unable to be present for your arrival."

"That's a shame." She was surprisingly comfortable talking with the strange man. A part of her realized that in this particular room, she had no reservations whatsoever.

"Indeed. I will make sure that you are properly introduced to them." He stole a glance behind her. "At another time, perhaps."

Hamuko felt the world begin to blur away. Igor's echoing voice was the last thing she heard before her vision faded to black.

"'Til we meet again..."

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>Her eyelids fluttered as she opened them to the familiar sight of her room. She had had a strangely vivid dream last night.<p>

She remembered blue. Waaaay too much blue than what was considered to be normal. And some weird old man spouting cheesy old lines about destiny and power.

It was probably karmic retribution for all those cheese puns and making fun of Minato's hair.

She sighed as she finally decided to get out from under her warm and comfy blanket to get ready for school. It wouldn't do to be late on her third day.

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>She had Classic Literature straight after homeroom, taught by a middle-aged greying teacher.<p>

"I am Ekoda-sensei, and I am your Classic Lit teacher. I'll be teaching you about good old Japan all year."

She was seriously considering Junpei's argument of sleeping in class earlier when she met him at the school gates.

"Some people say Classic Lit isn't relevant to everyday life. But oh, how they're wrong!"

No! She shouldn't fall asleep! Her goal was to be a model student this year! No sleeping no sleeping no sleeping...

"The students, the other teachers... Wrong, wrong, wrong! Nobody really understands Classic Lit..."

But she was soooo sleeeepyy... Surely one minute couldn't hurt?

"Hey, are you all listening to me?!"

BANG! He slammed his textbook on the table, startling most of the students who were about to doze off. Hamuko included.

"Wake up, children! Take out your textbooks and open it to page 10! The first thing we're covering in our syllabus is 'Ise Monogatari', the origin of Japanese literature. It's actually a very interesting story. You teens might even call it 'da bomb'."

Hamuko sat up, alert now. Ise Monogatari was something she had learnt about last year, but not in detail.

"Now, most of you would have heard of Genji Monogatari. Ise Monogatari can be seen as a prelude towards that. The actual author is unknown, but it is speculated to be Ariwara no Narihira, who was one of the six real-life inspirations for Genji Monogatari..."

By the end of the class, the brunette was glad that she didn't fall asleep. Ekoda-sensei was surprisingly decent at teaching the subject, contrary to the rumours she had heard about him being boring.

She couldn't help but scoff at herself. She, of all people, had believed in a rumour. Especially in her current situation.

Ah, Junpei was drawing again... and Minato was sleeping. Yukari seemed bored, but at least she was paying attention, if only barely.

As Ekoda-sensei wrapped up his lecture, Hamuko idly wondered if she had turned into a study freak.

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>After school was out, Hamuko had met Yukari by the shoeboxes. The Archery Club secretary was finally free today, so she offered to take Hamuko around for a tour.<p>

The two girls had stopped by Paulownia mall, the local mall of Tatsumi Port Island. It had been rather crowded, but they had ducked into a cafe that Yukari had heavily advocated for a cup of coffee.

"You haven't been to this mall yet, right?" Yukari was saying while they waited for their order to arrive. "A lot of Gekkoukan students come here straight after school."

"Seems kinda crowded." Hamuko remarked. "Is it normally like this?"

"Not usually. Apparently the Karaoke Box here is having a grand reopening or something."

"That explains the queue outside." The brunette said. "So what else is there to do here?"

"Well, there's a few factory outlets, a CD shop and a nightclub."

"Ooh, have you ever been in there?" Hamuko asked curiously.

"No, I haven't. We're minors, ya know. We're not exactly allowed in." She shook her head. "I've heard that the bouncer takes bribes though."

"Typical." Hamuko snorted. "So that's it?"

"Well, there's an arcade too, but I've never actually tried it."

"You don't like video games?"

Yukari shook her head. "Not particularly. If you're interested you should ask Junpei about it. From what I've heard, he spends quite a bit of time there."

"I'll keep that in mind."

The waitress arrived with their orders. The two of them had ordered the House Special, Pheromone Coffee; it was supposedly able to make one much more charming to the opposite gender. Much like the sushi from Wakatsu the other day, Hamuko was extremely skeptical about it, chalking it up to advertising.

At least, until she took a sip.

As soon as the coffee touched her tongue, she felt like the entire cafe was staring at her. Everything seemed to pass in slow motion, like she was part of one of those television commercials...

"What the hell do they put in this coffee?" She murmured in awe as the world returned to its original speed.

"I know, right?" Yukari said, as she took a sip herself.

Hamuko took another sip, and sure enough, the world seemed to slow down again. She looked at the cup suspiciously. "Are there drugs in here?"

Her friend laughed. "You wouldn't be the first to ask that. You'd be surprised at how many times this place has been tested for drugs."

"And nothing?"

"Nothing." Yukari confirmed. "Some scientist said that it has something to do with their perfect blend of coffee triggering some sensory overload or something."

Hamuko took another sip. "Whoa."

"I know."

The two girls finished their cup of coffee. Hamuko fearfully resisted ordering another one after the waitress told her that taking it more than once a day would desensitize her to it in the long run. It wouldn't do to have such a wondrous feeling taken away.

No, Hamuko would be patient. She would endure the deprivation. For now.

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>Minato was in a quandary. He had no idea what to do.<p>

He had left straight after school today to his favourite thinking spot; a garden next to Naganaki Shrine. He desperately needed the peace and quiet to plan for the potential problems that might arise tonight.

Saving Akihiko from his own recklessness was a definite no. Hamuko wouldn't awaken today if she didn't face the Magician. That would lead to horrifying circumstances that he just couldn't risk.

Even preventing Akihiko's injury could be detrimental in the long run. The boxer wouldn't curb his impatient and reckless tendencies if he didn't get injured, and he was already bad enough the first time around when he _did_. He would also most likely retain field command in that case, and Hamuko wouldn't be able to blossom in her capabilities as a leader even with the power of the Wild Card. That would mean that any operations inside and outside of Tartarus might prove to be problematic.

So any premature moves before the attack on the dorm was out.

He questioned the morality of letting Akihiko get hurt for the greater good. While he knew there would be no lasting effects on the boxer, he knew that this was the first real moral dilemma that he had had to face since his return. It was a far cry for the biggest, and it sure as hell wouldn't be the last. This was just a prelude to more and more questionable decisions; choosing who to save and who to condemn. All for the sake of saving the world.

And that scared him. A single misstep in the wrong direction could spell destruction for the world. Worst still, he might develop a God Complex from having the foreknowledge and influence that he did.

He would have to constantly remind himself that the value of life was immeasurable; that sacrificing even one person should be a last resort. Of course, he also had to remember that he couldn't save everybody.

He sighed.

A small part of him wished that he hadn't chosen to carry this burden. But he had chosen to do so, and under no circumstances would he go against the terms of his contract.

Returning to the matter at hand, he considered the options for his own positioning during the event tonight. He had two options; the first was to stay in the dorm, obviously. The second was to be absent during the attack. What were the benefits and costs of the second, already knowing what the first would bring?

Absence meant suspicion, unless it was with permission. It also meant that he wouldn't have any real interaction with SEES during the Dark Hour until a later time. A later induction into SEES, though probably only by a week or two. He would have more time to think about what to reveal about his capabilities. It would solidify Hamuko's position as field leader, as she would be the only one with any prior experience fighting the Shadows.

On the other hand, his late induction into SEES would mean less pull overall with the Juniors in terms of being able to advise them, Junpei especially. Again, suspicion, if he snuck out. Worst of all, he wouldn't be in position to save anyone if things went differently on the rooftop of the dorm. Hamuko may not pull the trigger on time. Or maybe she would, but Thanatos might end up going berserk. No one else had known how close the Personification of Death had come to turning its attention on Yukari that night before Orpheus managed to resurface...

That last point won the argument right there. He was staying. It was too risky to do otherwise.

Speaking of Thanatos, another question he had was whether Hamuko would call forth Orpheus or not. Abstractly, it would make sense, considering that Orpheus had ventured into Tartarus, much like she would in the coming year. But whereas Orpheus was truly the original manifestation of _his_ psyche, he wasn't certain that it was hers.

Orpheus was prominent in mythology for his music, said to be able to charm all living things, even some stones; and his ultimately unsuccessful journey into Tartarus to rescue Eurydice, his wife. Minato was of the belief that his own love for music had played a large part in calling forth the Master of Strings from the sea of his soul. A love of music that Hamuko hadn't displayed since her arrival.

From his experience, however, he knew that Personas were the facades of a stage in life their counterparts were going through. Hermes was the one who had taken Eurydice back to the netherworld when Orpheus had failed in his task. While not as drastic, Junpei had more than a few issues with the blue-haired boy. Castor and Polydeuces, or Pollux, were twins. Castor was killed. Penthesilea had carried guilt and tried to atone for her past, much like Mitsuru with her family.

And when each and every one of them had moved on to another stage of their lives, their Persona changed to represent just that.

He himself knew from his bond with Orpheus that the ancient Greek figure was no longer his true Persona. He had known it the moment he had stepped onto the final floor of Tartarus, just moments before they had met Nyx on the roof. It was a result of fulfilling the task that Destiny had placed upon him. He was the last of SEES to achieve resolution, but Orpheus had finally manifested into Messiah.

It was fitting, if a tad bit obvious in hindsight.

Coming to the conclusion that she would likely still summon the Master of Strings given that it was something ordained by Fate, it would be best if he abstained from using Orpheus at all.

In fact, he should abstain from showing any Wild Card tendencies unless absolutely necessary. Hamuko was sharp. She would figure out his connection to the Velvet Room almost immediately.

...But did he even want to keep it a secret?

He massaged his temples. He could feel a headache coming up. There were just too many things to consider, and now was not the time to consider them. He would have to keep everything quiet for now. Less complications in the long run.

But what then? Should he just use Messiah, which at this point was way beyond the strength of all of SEES put together and then some? He would become a crutch for them, if that were case.

Maybe he could tone down the Persona's strength instead. His familiarity with fighting Shadows would raise enough questions as it was, and obfuscating his skills would be near impossible at this point. Grace in battle was something one attained after countless encounters, and once achieved, could not be easily concealed. All combat members of SEES had developed this to some extent, utilising economical movements and instinctive manoeuvres when battling Shadows.

So... could he hold back his abilities?

A quick check with Messiah confirmed that he could in fact limit his power if necessary. He let out a sigh of relief. That was one problem solved. He could just stick with using his true Persona the entire way and 'grow' at the pace of SEES.

He returned once again to the matter at hand and he shook his head. His mind was unusually chaotic and unfocused lately.

What to do on the roof? Hamuko awakening to her power was an event that had to come to pass. Because of that, the Magician was already marked for death. However, it _had_ summoned a few minion Shadows, however, and he remembered having to deal with them even at the brink of exhaustion from the whole Thanatos debacle. He decided that he could help with that, at least.

And then he remembered that there would only be one Evoker at that time. Not that it would hinder him, if push came to shove.

He glanced around to make sure no one was watching and willed a blue Tarot card into existence. He had known ever since attaining the power of the Universe that it was possible to summon a Persona without the use of an Evoker. However, it required accepting oneself, absolutely and completely, to be able to do so. He knew without a doubt that without discovering his Answer, he wouldn't have been able to do it. There were parts of him that he had outright rejected before.

Furthermore, he knew it wouldn't work for any of the SEES members. All had something to hide, and all were reluctant to confront their personal demons, much less accept them. Attempting to summon a Persona in such a way before fully accepting oneself could have absolutely devastating effects. Strega was the prime example.

Hm... Didn't that mean that the entirety of SEES were artificial Persona users? They all had to use Evokers, after all.

Shaking his head, he cleared his thoughts. What was wrong with him today? His thoughts were wandering all over the place. Maybe he was stressed about this or something.

Back to the roof. Summoning without an Evoker was a bad idea. Again, it was something to keep hidden unless absolutely necessary. There would be too many questions.

He could just engage the Shadows physically. That would clue in the other members of SEES that he had the potential for sure, seeing as it was impossible to fight a Shadow without one. It would immediately preclude his invitation to join SEES and had a bonus of not having to summon his Persona. Which meant that Hamuko would be put in charge on their first venture into Tartarus. He wouldn't be placed under suspicion for having disappeared. He also wouldn't be questioned about any 'anomalies' for a while, so he had extra time to think about the next step.

It was an elegant solution that covered all his bases. It had all the benefits and none of the costs of his 'Absentee' plan. He could also protect Yukari from Thanatos if necessary.

Yes, it was truly the best action to take for the best possible outcome. He mentally gave himself a pat on the back.

Now that all the tiring logical reasoning was done (_for now)_, he could finally relax and congratulate himself for his hard work with some Weird Takoyaki from Octopia. It had been literally an eternity since he had enjoyed some Not-Octopus.

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>AN: Again, I actually wanted to get to the Magician, but it's taking much longer than I expected, and I prefer to keep the Chapter word count to less than 10k. Enjoy this chapter in the meantime. It's a decent cutoff point at least, and to be honest I didn't intend to end it here. The adherence to the Hamuko-Minato format was purely by chance.

If you haven't noticed yet, Minato has the tendency to overthink things waaaaay too much. You can't blame him though, he's been put in a position where his actions will literally determine the survival of humanity in every single Universe in the Multiverse. Can you imagine that kind of pressure on you? No, you can't. That's because the world doesn't revolve around you, silly. Be thankful for that.

Also, if you've been paying attention to his thought processes, you may have discovered what is possibly Minato's greatest flaw. I'm not sure what effect it'll have in the future, but I'll be using it for sure at some point. Don't worry if you don't figure out what it is, it's really obscure. Here's something for you to chew on though. Minato is no Lelouch, nor is he Light. He's predicting what might possibly happen based on his future knowledge and he's spending a LOT of time thinking about these things, unlike those two unrealistically badass geniuses who would think of everything Minato thought in two seconds and ten backup plans to boot. Minato is logically ruling out what he should and should not do. He's dodging a lot of issues, because he doesn't have the time or the mood to think about it. Simply put, he's human, and that's okay.

I wanted to scrub my brain with the Cheese jokes. It was the best I could come up with in short notice, so I hope that made you groan or something. That would make my life have meaning again. If you didn't groan but laughed instead, you have a terrible sense of humour. Unless you thought the character interaction was funny, then I guess you're alright. Laughing at the puns themselves? That's a no-no.

I'm trying to make the characters as human as possible, one of Persona's key traits. Minato is one of the main targets. As you gain insight into his thoughts, you'll hopefully be able to experience the same fears, doubts, and thought process that he does, even if he's ridiculously powerful in an NG+.

Hamuko, on the other hand, is starting to become more outgoing. I personally feel that she's not so much super-hyper as most fics portray her, but more motivated and energetic instead. The type that tries to keep busy, or she'd collapse and break down. But that's my perspective on the other silent protagonist. Probably not yours.

Oh, and before I go (work on the next chapter), Pheromone Coffee is the bomb.

Cheers.

EDIT: Also, I just updated this chapter because I read through it and found some horrible grammatical errors. Ugh. Fixed most of them. Still don't like this Chapter though.


	5. Chapter 5: The Magician

**Chapter 5: The Magician**

A/N: Heh, I actually took a week's break or so from writing. First thing's first: I am completely unsatisfied with the last chapter. It was bad. It was amusing, maybe, but it was bad. A filler episode. Slow moving. I need to work on my pacing. You get my drift. I honestly feel that every time I re-read what I've written, the quality drops a little more. I don't know. Anyway, enough with my rant on my poor writing, and onwards to Chapter 5!

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>"How is she?"<p>

Mitsuru and Yukari were on the 4th floor of the dorm when Ikutsuki walked in.

"She's asleep today." Mitsuru answered.

Ikutsuki looked at the monitor screen. "I take it she was asleep when the Dark Hour started this time?"

"Yes. She had no reaction whatsoever when the shift occurred."

"Very interesting." The chairman mused. "Even those who have the potential tend to be unstable at first. Memory loss... disorientation... But this subject is rather unique. She hasn't exhibited any of the common symptoms, even when she was awake and active."

Yukari took offense at that. "Can you not call her a subject? I mean, call her by her name or something."

"I apologize for that." Ikutsuki replied a little sheepishly. "It's a habit that I developed over the years as a researcher. Please, do not judge me too harshly."

Yukari opened her mouth to retort, but changed her mind and sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just that... I feel kind of bad, you know?"

"I understand your concern, but it's imperative that we recruit new members. We have two potential users here, which would nearly double our numbers." He explained. "Besides, I heard that they're in your class. Wouldn't you be more comfortable working with someone in the same grade?"

The girl nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, I guess... but still-"

The monitor's alarm beeped suddenly, interrupting what Yukari had to say. Mitsuru was quick to accept the incoming transmission.

"Command room. What is it, Akihiko?"

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>"You're not gonna believe this." Akihiko panted, as he ducked around a corner. "This thing is huge!"<p>

"_Are you talking about a Shadow? Where are you?"_ Mitsuru's voice rang over the radio.

"Yeah." Akihiko answered. His instincts screamed at him to move, and he stepped aside to narrowly dodge one of the thrown blades from the Shadow chasing him. Unfortunately, that put him right in the range of one of the Shadow's many arms, which knocked him straight into a wall.

"UNGH!"

"_Akihiko! Are you alright?! What's going on?!"_

The grey-haired boxer had no time to respond. Quickly scrambling to his feet, he threw a punch at the giant Shadow, momentarily disorientating it before breaking off into a dead run once again. This wasn't a fight he could win alone, and he knew it.

"I-"

He was interrupted by the Shadow's roar, and he quickly looked back to see a FREAKING TREE being hurled at him. He quickly ducked under the projectile, barely managing to avoid it.

He didn't have time to celebrate though, as the Shadow appeared in view from right behind the tree. It had somehow detached a lamp post from the ground with one of its many arms and was swinging it directly at Akihiko's head.

The boxer's eyes widened. There was no dodging the strike; he was still recovering from his crouch and he was in no position to manoeuvre around the attack. So he did the next best thing to protect himself from dying. He raised one of his arms to absorb the blow.

"ARGH!"

"_Akihiko!"_

The attack had knocked him away from the Shadow, but Akihiko had broken his arm more than enough times to recognize the condition of his mangled arm. He cursed. The probability of his survival just went down quite a bit.

"I'm not dead yet." Akihiko grunted, as he took off once again. "My arm's broken though. I won't last much longer at this rate- DAMN IT STOP THROWING THINGS AT ME!" He quickly weaved around the latest projectile; a mailbox this time, and quickly resumed running for his life.

"_Where are you?!"_

"I don't have time to talk right now, Mitsuru!" Akihiko said, as he dodged a flying bicycle. "I'm almost there!"

"_He's bringing that thing here?!"_

"Yukari, if I fight this thing alone, I'm dead for sure!" Another mailbox. "Now shut up and let me focus on living!"

There was radio silence for the next few seconds. He was thankful when he swung into an empty alleyway; there would be no makeshift projectiles for the time being.

"Alright, I can talk a bit now, there's nothing for the damn thing to throw it at me. I'm about a minute away. Prepare for a surprise party."

"_This is no time for jokes, Akihiko! Ikutsuki-san, we'll suspend our observation for now. Takeba, we need to prepare for battle! Akihiko, we'll meet you out front!"_

"Roger that." The connection went out.

He seemed to gain ground from the massive tangle of arms as he rounded the corner of the alley into the main street just outside the dorm. Sprinting the last few hundred meters to the entrance of the dorm, he quickly entered and shut the door behind him. He slumped against the door in exhaustion, cradling his injured appendage.

"Akihiko!" Mitsuru appeared from the stairway and rushed to his side, along with Yukari, who tried to tend to his arm.

"S-Senpai!"

The weary boxer raised his head tiredly. "I'm alright. Get ready to be surprised, it'll be here any second now."

"It's one of them, Akihiko?" Ikutsuki asked.

The boy nodded. "Yeah, but not an ordinary one. I've never seen anything like it before-"

BOOM!

A sudden quake caused the walls to shake.

"What the... You've got to be KIDDING me!" Yukari was beginning to panic.

Mitsuru was pale, but quickly resumed command. "Mr. Chairman, please head for the Command Room!"

"A-Alright." The Chairman obeyed and made his way upstairs. Mitsuru turned to the other girl there.

"Takeba, can you fight?"

"I-I'll try..." Yukari answered shakily.

"If you can't, you'll just be a hindrance." Akihiko said, standing up slowly. "This thing's dangerous, we won't be able to protect you and fight at the same time."

"I...I-"

Mitsuru shook her head. "Nevermind. You haven't had any experience in battle yet. It would be foolish of us to allow you to fight such a powerful foe."

Another rumble shook the building. Mitsuru turned to Yukari urgently.

"Takeba, go upstairs and wake them up! Then, escape out the back!"

Yukari seemed hesitant. "But what about you two?"

Mitsuru brandished the French rapier she had brought with her. "We'll stop it here. You led it to us, Akihiko, so I'm afraid you'll have to fight."

"Tch, like I had a choice!" The boxer said, drawing his Evoker. "What are you waiting for, Yukari? Go!"

The brunette nodded and ran, sparing the pair one last glance before disappearing up the stairs.

The boxer chuckled mirthlessly as he tested his arm. He wouldn't be able to punch with it, that was for sure, but he could still grip his Evoker and use it, albeit painfully.

"This'll be just like the old days, eh Mitsuru?" He said.

"Not the time, Akihiko." The redhead replied, though Akihiko could hear the tiny smile in her voice.

Together, they opened the door and stepped outside, ready for battle.

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>Yukari was frantic as she ran up the stairs to the 2nd floor. Running straight to the end of the hall, she quickly banged on the door.<p>

"Wake up!" There was no response from him, and she was in a rush, so she announced, "Sorry, I'm coming in!" and opened the door.

Minato was just standing there calmly. "What is it, Yukari-san?"

She shook her head. "I don't have time to explain! We have to get out of here, now!"

The blue-haired boy shrugged. "Alright."

Another rumble shook the building. "We need to go get Hamuko-chan first, so follow me! Hurry!"

"Okay."

While she didn't show it, she was surprised at his nonchalant reaction. Maybe he assumed it was an earthquake or something. Either way, she didn't have the time. She had to get to Hamuko as soon as possible!

The two climbed the stairs, and Yukari repeated the process of banging on Hamuko's door. "It's me, Yukari! Wake up!"

The door opened to reveal Hamuko's sleepy face.

"What's is it, Yukarin?" She asked as she rubbed her eyes. "Oh, hey, Minato-san."

"I don't have time to explain. We need to get out of here." Yukari had calmed down by now.

Yet another loud sound shook the building. A much more alert Hamuko turned to the girl.

"What was that?! A bomb?!"

Yukari shook her head. "Worse. C'mon, we need to get downstairs! We'll leave through the back door."

Confused, Hamuko followed her lead. The trio ran down the stairs into the kitchen.

"Okay, we should be safe here. For now, at least."

As if to contradict her, a beeping sound rang out from some sort of radio device she had on her before suddenly coming to life. _"Takeba, do you read me?"_

"Y-yes! I hear you. What's happening out there?"

"_We're fine, but be careful! There's more than one enemy!"_

"Enemy...?" Hamuko murmured.

"_The ones we're fighting isn't the one Akihiko saw."_

"What?!" Yukari exclaimed.

Just then, something hit the back door with the force of a battering ram.

"We need to pull back!" Yukari yelled. "Senpai, they're at the back door!"

"_Damn it!" _That was Akihiko. _"Mitsuru, we need to finish these quickly! They're in trouble!"_

"_I know, Akihiko! Takeba, head upstairs! Try not to lead them to the command room, the Chairman's defenceless if they find him. We'll be there as soon as we can!"_

"O-okay!" Yukari turned to the two Arisatos. "You heard her, we need to go back up! C'mon!"

"What's going on, Yukarin?" Hamuko asked as the trio made their way back the way they came.

"It's not really the best time to explain right now!" Yukari said between pants. A loud crack indicated that the back door had finally given way. Fortunately, they were almost at the first floor by then.

"Senpai, I think the back door's been breached! Be careful, they may attack you from the back!"

"_No chance of that, we're almost done out front, but I can see lots of Shadows inside the dorm itself. We're gonna have to fight our way through." _Akihiko's voice responded. "_Mitsuru, I'll take care of these ones over here. Go on in and start the cleanup!"_

"_Akihiko, was that supposed to be another joke?"_ Mitsuru's displeased response could be heard. _"If you have the time to be funny you have time to- HYAH!- fight a little harder."_

"_Never mind that, just head on in!"_

"_Copy that__. Takeba, we'll try to rendezvous with you as soon as we can. Try to get to safety for now."_

"Alright! C'mon, let's keep going!"

The three students continued their hurried climb up the stairs. As they were climbing the final flight of stairs to the 4th floor, Mitsuru's voice sounded from the radio once more.

"_Takeba, I've reached the dorm. There's no end to them in sight and I can't clear them quickly without Akihiko. You're going to need to prepare for battle at this rate."_

"R-Roger that!" With that, the Yukari turned to the two transfer students. "I don't know if I can protect myself, let alone you guys. Can either of you fight?"

Minato nodded, while Hamuko was puzzled. "Who are we fighting against, Yukarin? Is the dorm under attack by a gang or something?"

"Something like that. You're gonna need a weapon." Yukari mused. She then noticed a long steel pole lying near the ground. She picked it up and handed it to her fellow brunette. "Here."

Hamuko tested the makeshift weapon by swinging it around a few times. "This'll do."

"And for you, Senpai…" Yukari turned to Minato, only to see him in the midst of removing a fire extinguisher from its stand and proceeding to swing it around like it weighed nothing. "Uh… yeah, that'll be just fine." She sweatdropped.

"What about you, Yukarin?" Hamuko asked.

"I've got my weapon right here." The brunette pointed at her holstered gun.

"I thought you said it wasn't a real gun."

"It's not." She shook her head. "I'll explain everything later."

A sudden crashing sound was heard from below. It wasn't too far away.

"T-They're getting closer!" Yukari said, slightly panicking.

"We should head to the roof." Minato quietly suggested. "If we maximise our distance from whatever the problem is, our Senpai may be able to take care of it before it gets to us."

Yukari calmed down and thought about it quickly before nodding in agreement. "There's also more room for fighting there if it comes down to that. Alright, let's go."

The trio went up the final flight of stairs. Yukari was the last one to reach the roof, and upon passing through the heavy door she turned and slammed it shut before locking it.

She gave a sigh of relief. "We should be safe for now."

However, their brief respite was cut short when Hamuko's voice sounded out shakily. "Uh, Minato-san…"

"Yeah?"

"You don't get to make any suggestions from now on."

Yukari's felt her heart stop when she heard a squelching sound coming from the other end of the roof. Turning rapidly to face the sound she saw _hands hands hands so many hands CLIMBING UP _the edge of the roof.

An arm holding up a blue mask swivelled it around before pulling the rest of its body_(?)_ up, and the three Junior students were met with the sight of an chaotic amalgamation of arms that _could not exist_. As if to exacerbate the problem, about half of the arms brandished _swords._

The mask stopped and locked its gaze at the trio as if acquiring a target. At some unseen signal, the amalgamation of arms all started rapidly crawling towards them.

"T-Those monsters…" Yukari said shakily. "We call them Shadows…"

She quickly ran forward and drew her gun and pointed it at her head_._ She tried to steady her shaking arms and hands but she_ couldn't pull the trigger no she couldn't-_

A loud metallic clang was heard as Hamuko blocked a blow from nearly taking off Yukari's head. Minato on the other hand was keeping the other arms busy, dodging and parrying with the fire extinguisher like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Whatever you're trying to, do it quickly!" Her voice was strained. Her arms were shaking as she held back the blade. "Nnngh!"

The Shadow drew back its weapon and came down once more with twice the force as before.

Hamuko held her ground.

Her steel pole didn't.

Hamuko screamed as the blade _cleaved right through_ the pole and cut deeply into her left arm. Another arm took advantage of her flinch and knocked her aside with the force of a sledgehammer. She let out another scream of pain as she flew back several feet, dropping the remains of the pole.

"Hamuko-chan!"

In the moment of her distraction, the Shadow swung a blade towards Yukari. She managed to retract her hand in time to narrowly prevent her hand from being severed. However, the Shadow simply followed up with another arm and knocked Yukari aside much like it did Hamuko. The gun, her lifeline, flew straight out of her hand.

It landed right in front of Hamuko, who was still in the process of getting to her feet.

As her gaze locked onto the gun, her pupils seemed to dilate. Time began to slow. The sounds of Minato keeping the Shadow at bay seemed so far away. drowned out by the sound of her blood pulsing through her ears.

She reached for the gun and picked it up. Seemingly in a trance, she stood up and faced the Shadow.

Nothing remained but the sound of her heartbeat. A familiar figure appeared in her mind's eye.

"Go on." The eerie boy she signed a contract with seemed to say. But it didn't make sense. He wasn't here. "It's easy."

Nothing made sense. Some things made sense. The world was white. The Shadow was black. Darkness _darkness light_ sense of _self façade power_ life death_ DEATH _harmony **MIND** CALL ME _f__**oRtH**_

PERSONA

PERSONA

**PERSONA**

She grinned.

Everything made sense now. She raised her arm. She distantly noted that it was bleeding, but she couldn't feel anything at the moment.

The gun was pointed toward her head. But that was okay. It was supposed to be there. The stage was set. It was time for the first act to begin.

"Per…"

The kid was smiling encouragingly at her.

"So…"

It was strange, but she felt the blue-haired Arisato nod and smile at her too.

"…Na."

She pulled the trigger.

And the monochrome world _shattered_.

A wave of euphoria descended upon her as she the dull headache she had been having over the past few days completely disappeared without a trace. Everything felt _right_ for the first time in a long time. Feeling the rush of power swirling about her, she broke into a manic grin. Nothing could stop her, nothing could _touch _her, nothing could stand in her way!

A tiny voice in her head told her that she was drunk with power, but it was overpowered by the voice that boomed across her mind.

"**Thou art I. I am thou. From the sea of thy soul I come forth."**

Then there was static in her vision, and a being that she could barely describe with words rapidly faded into view. It was shaped like a human, but seemed to be made out metal. It had flowing brown hair with streaks of a strange colour she couldn't quite define. It was unmistakably female, as it had rather distinct curves in places a man wouldn't have. It's noticeable facial feature was its eyes; they were the same ones she had seen in a mirror time and time again. The being knelt before her.

"**I am Orpheus, Master of Strings."**

All its limbs were a faded white, while its torso was a golden yellow. A single red scarf was wrapped around its neck, and it seemed to trail on forever. However, its most distinct characteristic was that it carried a heart-shaped instrument on its back, which she instinctively knew was a lyre.

Before she could respond, static flickered across her vision once more, but this time it was accompanied by a dark haze. A thousand needles stabbed at her mind, and she let out a cry of pain. _Death dark DIE DEVOUR THEM ALL ReUNITe __**DEstROY death I COME FoRtH die DiE dIE**_

She grabbed her head as the pain seemed to never end. She screamed once, then once more, and then for an eternity.

Her body wrapped itself into a fetal form, the Shadow long forgotten in her unexpected agony. She clenched her hair as her nails dug into her palms. A warm feeling that she vaguely recognized as her blood ran down her arms.

She never knew how long her torment lasted, but she wept in relief as her world faded to black and the soul wrenching pain she underwent tormented her no longer.

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>It had gone so well at first. And then it had all suddenly went to hell.<p>

He had successfully manoeuvred everyone to the roof. The Shadow came as he knew it would. Hamuko protected Yukari valiantly, both girls had gotten knocked aside, and the Evoker had landed perfectly in front of Hamuko while he had moved to distract the Shadow. She had reached for it in a trance, and a wave of nostalgia had washed over him as he recalled being in that same position an eternity ago.

It was all going so well. And then she pulled the trigger.

A more feminine Orpheus had appeared, just as he had predicted. But when Hamuko let out a heart-wrenching cry of pain, he knew something had gone wrong.

When Thanatos made his debut in his timeline, he had felt a sharp, but bearable pain in his mind. It had only lasted for a few seconds before it went away, and he was left with nothing but the euphoric feeling of massacring the Magician Shadow.

But Hamuko was still screaming. It had been nearly thirty seconds since Thanatos had emerged from within Orpheus, and it was now swinging its blade wildly at the air.

Minato quickly bit a curse and quickly disengaged from the blade-wielding Shadow, only to find himself instinctively dodging a swing from the blade-wielding _Persona_. Thanatos had truly gone berserk.

Hamuko was still screaming. It had been nearly three minutes since Thanatos has emerged from the depths of Hamuko's soul, and it was now engaged in a three-way battle with the blue-haired boy and the Magician.

In a feat of quick thinking Minato feinted, directed Thanatos' swing towards the Shadow with the fire extinguisher and quickly dodged under the powerful stroke. The Shadow had attempted to block the blow, only to find that the Persona's blade had completely cleaved through its own, severing more than a few arms along with its mask. Unfortunately, the cost of such a manoeuvre was his weapon, as it was similarly cleaved into two pieces, releasing a cloud of ash into the air, causing his wounds to sting.

_Hamuko was still screaming_. It had been nearly five minutes since Thanatos had emerged from the now hoarse girl, and it was now locked in a deadly battle with Minato Arisato. Except it wasn't so much as a battle as a game of dodge.

The personification of Death was faster and stronger than he was, that was for sure. The only reason he was still alive was that it was berserk and thus moving rather predictably, and his footwork was superior enough that he was able to direct the rhythm of the one-sided fight. He was still trying to limit his physical strength to believable amounts, and it showed in the dozens of cuts he had accumulated over the course of the battle. He was beginning to question the wisdom of doing so.

_Hamuko was still screaming, but there was no longer any sound._ Minato prayed that Hamuko would forgive him for the indirect pain he was causing her by trying to remain incognito. But enough was enough. He had finally formulated a plan besides 'Don't reveal your power' and 'Survive'.

Taking a risk when the opportunity presented itself, he dived under Thanatos' sudden lunge instead of sidestepping and earned another cut on his cheek for it. Without wasting a single movement, he quickly rolled to his feet and ran straight for Hamuko. He saw that Yukari was tending to Hamuko and panicking over what to do.

"Yukari, MOVE!"

Startled, the girl's eyes widened as she saw the Personification of Death on the heels of the boy _running towards them_. She instinctively obeyed in fear as Minato closed in. Upon reaching them, the blue-haired boy desperately swung a precise chop at Hamuko's neck, who crumpled instantly upon impact.

Just as the girl fell to the ground unconscious, the berserk Thanatos too vanished from existence.

"W-What the hell just happened?!" Yukari asked, still trembling in fear.

"I took a gamble, that's what." Minato said, panting heavily. "If the damn thing came from her, then it had a good chance of going away if she's unconscious."

"But what the hell was t-that?!"

Minato frowned, knowing he had to keep his cover. "I was hoping you knew, since the gun that caused the whole mess belonged to you."

Yukari's eyes widened. "I-I…"

"Tch, no time to talk!" Minato suddenly said. "There're more of them coming."

Sure enough, five more Shadows climbed onto the roof. Cowardly Mayas, if he recalled correctly. Minato eyed the remains of the severed steel pole that Hamuko had carried earlier and picked them up, one in each hand, and quickly moved to engage the Shadows.

Yukari was torn. Minato was engaging the Shadows alone, just like he had engaged that… that _thing_ alone earlier, and there was nothing she could do to help. She glanced at the Evoker lying by the now unconscious Hamuko's feet, and picked it up slowly before putting it to her head.

Images of Hamuko screaming in pain for what seemed like an eternity entered her mind, and she her hands trembled more than before. What if the same thing happened to her?

But Minato was engaging the five Shadows alone, and he was now completely surrounded. She had to help him somehow!

Haunting echoes of the other brunette's heart-wrenching screams of pain filled her ears once more. And in the end, she couldn't pull the trigger and dropped weakly to her knees. Tears filled her eyes at how useless she seemed to be, unable to help either of her new dorm mates.

A frantic banging on the door behind her snapped her out of her self-pity.

"Yukari, open up! The damn door's locked!"

That was Akihiko's voice. Akihiko-senpai was here, he could help!

In a fit of haste, she lunged towards the door and quickly turned the lock and opened the door.

"S-Senpai!"

Both of the Seniors were at the door, already armed for battle. Mitsuru took a quick glance at the roof, assessing the situation and evaluating objectives.

"Akihiko, assist Arisato in defeating the Shadows. I'll try to see what I can do to help her."

The boxer was already moving. "On it!"

The redhead turned to Yukari and seemed to stare right through her. Surprisingly, however, when she did speak, her voice was soft. Almost gentle, even. "Takeba, can you tell me what happened exactly?"

As Yukari filled Mitsuru shakily on what happened, Akihiko had strode forward to assist Minato, only to realize that the blue-haired boy didn't really need help. Despite his obvious exhaustion, the transfer student seemed to know exactly what he was doing, having already dispatched two of the five Shadows with solid strikes to their masks.

"You're late, Sanada-san." Minato said as he expertly parried a strike from one of the Cowardly Mayas and spun to counterattack with his other weapon, smashing it into its mask and removing yet another enemy from the battlefield.

"Better late than never." Akihiko replied, as he smashed another Shadow with his uninjured arm, taking it out with one hit and whipping out his Evoker with the other.

"Polydeuces!"

It was another nostalgic sight for Minato, seeing Akihiko's old Persona launching a quick punch at the last remaining Shadow, eliminating it in one fell swoop. The white Immortal then faded from sight, his task done. There was no one left on the roof save the students living in the dorm. The crisis was over.

Minato slumped against the nearest wall; the adrenaline finally wearing off. He inwardly scoffed; he was severely out of shape. While his muscles hadn't atrophied, it wasn't at the same peak condition it was at the end of his life. Add that to the limiting of his Persona abilities, which were tied into his own, and the result was the exhaustion that he was feeling right now.

He was tired.

Hamuko had suffered pain beyond imagining. Yukari was severely traumatized at the mere thought of using an Evoker. He had unwittingly put himself in the spotlight. Nothing had gone according to plan.

"You did well, Minato-san. Rest." Akihiko was talking to him.

"How's Hamuko-san?" He sounded tired, even to himself.

"We don't know. We'll call an ambulance as soon as the Dark Hour ends." Akihiko responded. "Try not to aggravate your wounds."

His wounds? Oh right, Thanatos. Plus, he had been rapidly moving around, preventing any of the cuts from clotting over. No wonder he felt faint. The blood loss was simply taking its toll.

"You're one to talk, Sanada-san. You fought with a broken arm." He answered, his voice quiet and heavy.

"It's nothing compared to the amount of blood you've lost. I swear, you're as pale as a ghost…"

But Minato had already fallen asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>For the two upperclassmen, the night was an absolute disaster. First Akihiko had broken his arm, then they had to hold off an onslaught of Shadows at the front door. Moments later, Yukari informed them that the Shadows had entered the dorm through the back door.<p>

Mitsuru wouldn't normally have abandoned Akihiko. Not with his broken arm, at least; but she was forced to do so in order to protect the younger ones under her charge.

Akihiko had rejoined her on the threshold on the second floor, just after she had frozen a Shadow and shattered its mask with a well-placed kick. Together they had slashed, punched and summoned their way to the fourth floor. They entered the Command Room to find the Chairman thankfully safe, and Mitsuru had quickly switched through the many cameras placed everywhere within the dorm in order to find the three underclassmen.

"There!" Akihiko shouted as the screens flickered by, and Mitsuru returned to the previous camera. "They're on the roof. Let's go!"

Just as they turned to leave, Ikutsuki called out. "Wait!"

Akihiko gritted his teeth. "We don't have time-"

He was silenced as he saw Hamuko pick up the Evoker in a trance and place it to her head. There was no audio feedback, but they could all read the word she had unmistakably uttered through her lips.

"Per…"

"So…"

"…Na."

Their eyes widened as she pulled the trigger, and out came a metallic looking being with long hazel hair and red eyes. It had a lyre on its back, and the name Orpheus appeared in Mitsuru's mind.

And then the second _thing_ ripped Orpheus apart from within, and Mitsuru felt a sharp pain just as the cameras were disrupted by a huge electromagnetic wave. She clutched at her own head as signals and emotions and _**rage** death __**DiE-**_

She let out a cry of anguish and Akihiko was instantly by her side.

"Turn off the connection, Mitsuru! Stop the scan!"

She barely managed to do so through the haze of pain, and the feeling instantly dulled and faded away. "W-What… what _is_ that thing? I've never felt anything like that before." Her voice was shaken, which put Akihiko on edge.

"I don't know." Akihiko replied seriously, and turned his head to the screen. "But whatever it is, it's gone berserk."

As the screen static faded, they could now see the new being in all its twisted splendour. It was humanoid and shrouded in some form of darkness, with a metallic head and a snapping jaw. In its right hand it held a sword, and on its back it wore a cape made of eight coffins. But worst of all was its aura of sheer dread; they could all feel it even through the cameras, beckoning them to run away in fear.

And when it roared, the three of them could hear it through the walls of the building. Accompanied by the roar was a wave of terror, and it immediately took hold of the three people in the Command Room.

Akihiko was the first of the three to recover, but time had seemingly passed as the cameras now showed the now-bloodied blue-haired teenager desperately dodging the berserk creature alone. The giant Shadow from before was nowhere to be seen.

"Mitsuru, snap out of it! We need to help them!" He yelled, urgently grabbing her shoulders.

Life slowly returned to Mitsuru's eyes as reason re-entered her mind.

"Of- Of course." The redhead responded as she shook her head violently to throw away the last vestiges of her fear. She looked at the monitor screen, seeing the male transfer student avoid the creature's blade by a hair's breadth. "We have to move, now!"

Together, the two ran out the room, leaving the Chairman who was still frozen in fear behind.

"What happened, Akihiko? Where is the Shadow?" Mitsuru asked as they headed towards the stairway to the roof.

"No clue. It seems we were stunned by the roar for a few minutes, so it's most likely that the other creature took it out in the meantime." Akihiko responded.

They entered the door leading to the stairs and Mitsuru asked. "Is Takeba alive?"

"She was stunned by the roar, just as we were. She was next to Hamuko-san before we left, so unless the thing changed targets, she's still alive."

The redhead drew her fleuret as they climbed the stairs. "Let's just hope that she is, then."

They spoke no more words until they reached the top of flight of stairs. Akihiko turned the handle of the door to no avail. "Damn, it's locked!"

"Perhaps Takeba can open the door from the other side." Mitsuru suggested.

"Yukari, open up! The damn door's locked!" Akihiko yelled through the door, banging on it.

Moments later, the door was unlocked and opened by a pale and ashen-faced Yukari, who addressed them in relief. There was no longer any sign of the monster from earlier, but Arisato was currently engaged with four Cowardly Mayas.

Assessing the situation, Mitsuru immediately took charge. "Akihiko, assist Arisato in defeating the Shadows. I'll try to see what I can do to help her."

He was already moving before the words left her mouth. "On it!"

Turning to Yukari, Mitsuru noticed that the other girl had tear streaks on her face and red, puffy eyes. Recognizing the signs of a panic attack and emotional trauma, she made sure to handle the girl gently. "Takeba, can you tell me what happened exactly?"

The girl began filling her in on their side of events. Her voice had started out shaky and unsure, but by the time she reached the occurrences on the roof, she had calmed considerably. "…then Hamuko-chan used the Evoker, and she summoned her Persona. Everything was fine, at first. Then that thing came out and roared and I… kind of fainted for a while"

She shuddered. "I'm not sure what happened, but Hamuko-chan wouldn't stop screaming, even after I came to. I tried to snap her out of it, but nothing I tried seemed to work. Minato-senpai kept that thing busy for a while."

"What happened to the creature?"

"Minato-senpai took a risk and knocked Hamuko-chan out. It disappeared when she fell unconscious. Then those Shadows came out, and he went to fight them. I-I'm sorry, I wanted to help him, but I wasn't sure if the Evoker was what caused that thing to appear. I... I couldn't bring myself to use it."

Mitsuru nodded understandingly. "No need to apologize, that was likely the best course of action."

Akihiko rejoined the two girls at that moment. "He's already asleep." He told them quietly. "We'll need to call an ambulance, Mitsuru. I've healed the cuts, but he's lost a lot of blood."

The redhead looked down at Hamuko sympathetically. "I'm more worried about her, actually. If what I felt was any indication, she's literally gone through hell."

"What do you mean, Senpai?"

"My Persona has the ability to connect to others." Mitsuru explained. "When that creature appeared, I felt a pain beyond anything I've ever felt."

"You mean…"

Mitsuru nodded solemnly. "She went through the same thing for several minutes. We'll be lucky if she's still sane after she awakes, if she even wakes up at all."

Yukari paled. "This… this is all my fault."

"You shouldn't blame yourself, Takeba. You couldn't have done anything."

"Yes, yes I could have!" The brunette growled. "I was too much of a coward to summon my Persona, and both of them paid the price for it!"

"Don't be stupid, Yukari. If it really was the Evoker malfunctioning, you'd be the one unconscious." Akihiko reasoned, cradling his injured arm. "If anything, it's my fault for bringing the Shadow here."

"…" Yukari stared at the ground, an unreadable look on her face.

"At any rate, we're all alive, so let's be thankful for that." Just as the words left Mitsuru's mouth, the Dark Hour ended and the green moon faded back to its normal pale white. The lights across the nearby buildings came back on, and the boxer turned to his classmate.

"We'll be needing that ambulance, Mitsuru."

The redhead nodded and whipped out her phone to dial the number.

The five of them remained in silence on the roof as they waited for the ambulance to arrive.

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>The moment Minato opened his eyes and saw blue, he knew he was back in the Velvet Room. He immediately opened his mouth to ask.<p>

"What the hell happened to her, Igor?"

The man in question had an unreadable look on his face. "Her soul rejected Thanatos."

"How is that possible? Isn't she a Wild Card?"

"Indeed she is, but it seems that the sealing this time around was incomplete. Rather than confining Thanatos within and adapting to it like you did, her soul sealed it aside."

Minato frowned. "So when she summoned Orpheus, the seal holding Thanatos broke?"

"Precisely." Igor nodded. "Her soul was then wrapped in a battle for dominance with the imprint of Thanatos. As a Wild Card, she has emerged victorious and is now completely assimilating Thanatos into her soul, just as you did."

The blue-haired boy nodded in understanding. "So the same thing happened to me, only it happened when Aigis initially performed the sealing?"

"That is correct."

"I see." Minato rubbed his chin in thought. "Why was her sealing incomplete, though?"

The old man leaned forward. "It likely has to do with the conditions of your souls during the sealing."

It made sense, somewhat. When his parents died during that fateful night, Minato had gone into shock. He remembered being apathetic and disbelieving. His soul had probably been uncaring towards whatever was happening and accepted any changes made to it.

Hamuko on the other hand, had likely reacted with grief and pain. In such an event, her soul was likely to reject everything. It must have brushed Thanatos to the side during the sealing, resulting in the event that occurred earlier.

"Will she be alright?" Minato asked, concerned.

Igor nodded. "Her soul is recovering, but she will be fine."

Just then, the door to the Velvet Room opened.

"Minato…"

It was a voice he instantly recognized. He spun around to be greeted with the sight of a familiar blonde elevator attendant leaping into him and wrapping him in her arms. He staggered back at the impact, but smiled fondly and returned the hug.

Elizabeth's face was buried in his chest, and her voice came out muffled by his clothes. "You're back."

Minato felt something wet on his shirt. "Are you… crying?"

The girl dressed in blue withdrew from the hug and touched her cheek.

"I… I suppose I am." The girl said in wonder, staring at her fingers. "How fascinating."

Minato chuckled once, then twice, erupting into a full blown laugh. "I've missed you, Elizabeth."

"And I you, Minato."

"I will leave you two to talk." Igor said, with a Cheshire grin on his face as he stood up from his chair and walked towards a door that wasn't there before.

Before he entered the door, however, he turned to the two with a twinkle in his eye. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do now."

"Master!" Elizabeth huffed, her face red.

Igor chuckled and vanished through the door, leaving them alone.

The saviour of his world and the elevator attendant spent what felt like hours talking; about the past, the present, and what the future would have in store.

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in another instance of the Velvet Room, Igor welcomed his latest guest back into the Velvet Room.<p>

"It's so nice to see you again."

Hamuko's eyes fluttered open.

* * *

><p><strong>-RRR-<strong>

* * *

><p>AN: Well, that took longer than expected. But really, once I got off my ass and got to typing, it only took me about two days to type more than half of it. I admit; I was slacking for a while. So much so that it's been about… three weeks since my last update? Well, I hope it was worth the wait. After all, people seemed disappointed when I stopped short in the last update. Lookin' for some action, eh?

Well, I personally enjoyed this particular run. I've twisted a few things here and there. Yes, one of my reviewers mentioned it too. Plans never survive first contact with the enemy. From the looks of things, unless Minato can talk his way out of it, he's gonna be stuck as the leader of the expedition team. I also repeated the same event three times in different points of view, with completely different focuses. I thought it was clever and totally-not-boring. Right? Right?

To be honest, that wasn't my plan either. Plans never survive first contact with Microsoft Word. We'll see how it goes. As I've said, I don't really have much planned for this story, I'm just writing it. If an idea catches my fancy and it seems to work, then I throw it in. I end up working around it, usually.

I hope I did the 'action' justice, or lack thereof. I don't describe every slash and action because it's unnecessary; if I did, the word count would likely be doubled (I'm exaggerating, but you get my point.) I prefer to only describe the major points of any battle. Either way, do let me know if this is fine with you.

Anyway, I'm out of my normal country at the moment, so I'll likely be less distracted and be able to write more. Hopefully I can pitch out another chapter before the New Year. But if I don't, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, people.

Cheers.

Edit: Just cleaning up a few messes and making everything smoother. I should honestly do it before posting, but I get over-excited when I'm done with something. See you guys next chapter!


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